Survival
by Littleforest
Summary: "Lisbon, it's…I need your help. I…erm…I'm in a bit of trouble again." When Jane makes a detour to another fruit stand, the last thing he expects is for history to repeat itself. Rated T for violence.
1. One Fine Day

**Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Hello one and all, and welcome to my second Mentalist story. The first one was well received (thank you!) but this one is a little different to the last one, with much more action and drama, and a little more investigating. It's set after the season five finale, so just to warn you, there is a chance of spoilers for anything up to that point. Hopefully you'll like it!

* * *

**~ Chapter One ~**

**One Fine Day**

* * *

He answered on the second ring.

"_Where the hell are you, Jane?"_

Patrick Jane rolled his eyes as he climbed out of his blue Citroen, an amused smile dancing at the corner of his mouth. Thankfully, since he was on the phone, Lisbon couldn't actually see that he wasn't taking her seriously. As much as he liked annoying her, he knew that he could usually only push it so far, and since he was approximately an hour late for work already, he'd probably already reached his quota for the day.

"I'm nearly there, Lisbon, my dear," he told her, juggling the phone between his shoulder and neck as he tried to lock his car. In truth, he wasn't actually anywhere near the crime scene yet, although the white lie wouldn't do any harm. Probably.

"_If you've stopped to buy fruit or something, God help me…"_

He had actually. Jane frowned. Perhaps he'd become a little predictable, but in his defence, ever since he had shown Lisbon the message left by Red John, he'd been a little preoccupied. Red John, through Lorelei, had destroyed months of work by naming Jane's entire list of suspects, and had promised, again through Lorelei, that the rules had now changed and that he was going to kill again. Often.

So far though, even though it had been weeks since that moment, nothing had happened, and although he would never admit it aloud, Jane was more than a little on edge.

Why the hell hadn't anything happened yet? What was Red John waiting for…?

"_Jane…"_

"Oh, lighten up, Lisbon," Jane replied cheerfully, shaking away the thought, and he could almost feel Lisbon roll her eyes on the other end. "It's a beautiful day. Perfect for some fresh oranges…"

"_Dammit Jane," _Lisbon muttered down the phone. He could hear her sigh in that long-suffering way of hers. "_Just get here as soon as you can."_

"Of course, my dear," Jane replied with a grin that he knew she couldn't see. Lisbon hung up without another word, a sure sign that she was mad with him, but Jane didn't let it dampen his good mood. Maybe if he got her some of those red delicious apples she liked so much, she'd forgive him for being late…

Jane strolled cheerfully over to the fruit stand by the road. On days like this, Jane had really learnt to appreciate the good in life. The birds singing, the sun in the air, the smell of fresh fruit.

"Hola," Jane said as he greeted the fruit vendor with a smile. The smile was returned and the two of them chatted away together like old friends as Jane chose his fruit. It had taken him a while to come back to a fruit stand after that whole fiasco with his kidnapping a couple of years ago – admittedly not one of his better memories – but now he was glad he had found the guts. There was something beautiful and pure about a fruit stand. Maybe it was the middle-of-nowhere location…

"Liam! Put that down."

Jane glanced over to his right. A woman and child were making their way over to the stand, her hand gripped tightly to the boy's as she pulled him away from the area he had been exploring. The boy – Liam, it seemed he was called - must only have been around ten, but by the looks of him, he was quite the trouble maker already. Jane hid a grin as he observed them.

Obviously the child was not her own, Jane noted curiously. He had brown hair, she had blond, and there was no familial resemblance whatsoever. Possibly a nanny. Or a step-mother.

"But it's only a small bug…"

"Put. It. Down."

"Fine."

The boy seemingly did as he was told, and scowled as he sauntered over to the fruit stand, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. He turned to look at Jane with a glare.

"What are you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing," Jane said, hiding his grin as best he could. The boy was acting like a teenager already. It really was quite amusing.

"Whatever," the boy muttered as he leant against the stand. The woman gave him a stern look before turning back to the fruit on sale.

Oh, the woman was definitely a nanny, Jane concluded. It was obvious in her whole demeanour really, now that he took the time to look more closely. The connection between her and the boy was clearly not through family, and he was slightly disappointed with himself that he hadn't noticed that earlier. Jane glanced back to the young child as the nanny began to choose her fruit.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her," he whispered conspiratorially to the boy when the nanny was once again distracted.

"Won't tell her what?" Liam replied nervously. A terrible liar, thought Jane. Good.

"I won't tell her about the bug you're hiding in your pocket."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the boy replied, but his hand went automatically to his pocket in a protective gesture. Jane hid his grin once again.

"Right, of course," he replied easily. "I must be mistaken."

Jane smiled as he picked up his bag of fruit, taking out one of the oranges for the car journey. As was his habit, he took a long sniff of the fruit, revelling in the tangy scent of the orange. Wonderful.

"Adiós," he nodded, smiling his thanks towards the fruit vendor and sending a grin towards the young boy. Now all he had to do was drive to the crime scene in record time and hope an apple would be enough to make Lisbon forgive him.

He smiled as he dug a finger nail into the juicy fruit, walking back to his car with a cheerful saunter. Ah well, either way, this little detour had been worth it.

* * *

Lisbon was in a bad mood. A terrible, completely-caused-by-Jane, very bad mood.

She glanced at her watch as she tried to ignore the stares of the crime scene people who were waiting to process the scene. The same people who had been waiting over a hour now, just so that her ridiculous consultant could look at the scene untouched. Dammit, why the hell did Jane find it so difficult to be on time?

"Boss…" Cho said, having followed her gaze.

"I know," she sighed. "We'll give him five more minutes and then we'll let the techs do their thing."

"Right," Cho replied, his face blank as he looked back to the corpse on the ground.

"Five more minutes," she muttered once again, more to herself than Cho. Out of annoyance more than anything else, Lisbon took out her phone, intent on calling her errant consultant and giving him a piece of her mind. Before she could, however, her phone starting ringing, and a scowl formed on her face as soon as she saw who it was.

It was the man himself.

She answered quickly. "Jane, get your ass – "

"_Lisbon, it's…I need…your help."_

Her stomach dropped, and she was sure that her face had just lost all its colour. The line wasn't great but she could make out enough to know that Jane was scared, and immediately her mind went to Red John. Had something finally happened? Her heart clenched in fear of what that could mean, and she found herself praying that whatever this was, it wasn't something that signalled the bastard's return.

Quickly she shook herself and focused on Jane, trying to pull herself together. God, if this was one of Jane's pranks, she was going to kill him…

"_I…erm…I'm in a bit of trouble again."_

He was whispering, and his usually confident voice was tinged with fear. She knew he was a good actor, but her instincts told her that this was real. Dammit.

"Jane, where are you?"

"_Don't know," _he replied shakily. _"In a van, I think. Some…goons grabbed me. I was at the fruit stand near the turn off. My car's… I think it's still there. From what I can tell, we're heading west."_

"Did you see who took you?" Lisbon asked urgently, trying simultaneously to grab Cho's attention.

"_Didn't recognise them." _Jane replied. "_I managed to hide my phone from them, but I...they'll find it eventually. __Can't believe it happened again. I think I'm actually starting to hate fruit…"_

Lisbon was about to question him further when she hurt a hiss of pain down the phone. Immediately her concern doubled.

"Are you hurt, Jane?"

"_Bit," he replied. "Lisbon, we're stopping. Got to go."_

"Jane – "

The line went dead.

* * *

**A/N - **So, as you might have guessed, this is my attempt at a Jane kidnapping story. I realise this is a cliché idea, but hopefully I'll be able to make it somewhat original. How am I doing so far, and more importantly, who wants to read more? Let me know what you think!


	2. Missing, Presumed Alive

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N- **So here's the next instalment. Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews after the first chapter. Hopefully this will live up to your high expectations. Enjoy!

* * *

**~ Chapter Two ~ **

**Missing, Presumed Alive**

* * *

Jane had been kidnapped. Again.

Lisbon tried to take a deep steadying breath and calm her beating heart as the news finally started to sink in. Her stomach clenched in rising panic, but she did her best to squash it, knowing that she had to stay strong. She was the leader. If the team saw her weak...

She shook her head and forced herself to focus on the facts.

As soon as Jane had hung up on her, she'd tried to ring back, but the line had been dead. Both Cho and Rigsby had tried as well, but neither of them had been any more successful. Either Jane had turned off his phone or...

Lisbon shook herself again. There was no time for that. In cases like this, the first few hours were crucial. Thank God Jane had managed to let them know he was in trouble. It gave them a head start; now was the time to make it count while the trail was still fresh.

"Cho," she began, thankful that her voice was strong. "Call SAC PD. Tell them to set up a perimeter around the fruit stand. No one goes in or out until we get there."

"Okay, boss," he replied, taking out his phone.

She turned to her other agent. "Rigsby."

"Yes, boss?"

"I want you get in touch with Van Pelt back at base," Lisbon continued, clenching her fists to keep her hands from shaking. "We need a trace on Jane's phone. When she's done that, tell her to get Jane's old client lists out again."

"You think it's someone getting revenge for his psychic days again?" asked Rigsby.

"I don't know," Lisbon answered after a long pause. Truthfully, a part of her hoped it was. When he'd called, Jane had said that he didn't recognise his kidnappers, but there was a chance that these 'goons' could just be working on behalf of one of his old clients. The alternative was that it was Red John, but Lisbon didn't really want to consider that possibility. If it was Red John, she wasn't sure they would get him back a second time…

"Okay, boss," Rigsby said, taking out his phone to ring Van Pelt. "You want us to meet you at the scene?"

Lisbon nodded, looking skyward as she tried to keep calm. Jane had been through this before and he'd survived that, she told herself. He would survive this as well.

She would make sure of it.

* * *

"Patrick…"

The voice called to him, dragging him from the abyss of unconsciousness and back to the land of the living. Jane clenched his eyes shut, however, fighting against it with every instinct he had. This couldn't be good. Waking up like this was never good…

His head throbbed dangerously and his thoughts were a jumbled mess, so much so that he just wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up. Jane clenched his eyes shut even more tightly, trying to ride the wave of pain that came with his return to consciousness. He didn't want to wake up, didn't want to face reality.

Through the daze of pain, memories hit at Jane's subconscious.

He'd had days like this in the asylum. Days when he couldn't remember where he was or how he'd got there. Days when they'd drugged him to stop him from hurting himself…

"Patrick…"

Was that Dr Miller? It didn't sound like her, although with the thudding in his skull he was surprised he could hear anything at all. He groaned and shifted himself, but found, to his surprise that he was lying face down on the floor. Even with the throbbing in his brain, Jane realised that something wasn't quite right. If he'd been at the mental hospital, surely he would have been on the bed…

"Patrick…please…"

The voice was like a whisper, making its way through his throbbing skull like a ghost walking through walls. It wasn't Dr Miller's, he was sure of that now. It didn't belong to a woman at all, he realised slowly. It was a child…a boy...

"Patrick, you okay?"

Jane frowned. No, he was not okay. Of course he wasn't okay. How on earth could he be okay?

Jane didn't reply out loud though, scared that his throbbing temple would overload. His body ached as well, though not nearly as much as his head. Maybe they'd drugged him again. He certainly felt drugged…

"Please be okay…"

Who was that? Jane wondered, his mind finally catching up with him. It definitely sounded like a child, but why would there be a child here? And for that matter, where _was _here?

Steeling himself and pushing the pain in his temple away as best he could under the circumstances, Jane forced his eyes to flicker open, blinking rapidly as he tried to adjust to his new location. He was still lying face down on the floor though, so with an effort that would have made Lisbon proud had she been there to see it, Jane pulled his body up and dragged himself over onto his back.

Ow…

Blinking rapidly in the dark room as he looked around in his new position, Jane tried to work out where the hell he was. Not the mental hospital, he concluded with no small sense of relief. He wasn't exactly on top form – he suspected he was suffering from a mild concussion of some sort and he'd probably been drugged - but at least he wasn't insane…

"Patrick?" came the quiet voice again. The boy sounded scared. "Are you awake?"

What had happened? Where was he...?

Jane groaned as realisation hit. He'd been kidnapped. Again. He finally remembered what had happened, pushing away the throb in his temple as the memories began to filter back into his mind. He'd been at the fruit stand on his way to a crime scene. At some point, men with guns had arrived and they'd taken both him and…

"Liam?" he asked hoarsely.

A relieved sigh met his ears. "You're okay."

"I'm okay," Jane replied, trying to shift himself so that he could see how the kid was. He blinked in the darkness, trying to make out the small form, when he heard a shifting to his right.

"You don't look okay," came the solemn reply.

"I'm okay," Jane repeated, pulling a hand up to wipe at his eyebrow. His fingers came back wet. Blood.

Ow…

"They hit you pretty hard," Liam told him. "You were out for a while."

"Are _you_ okay?" Jane asked, trying to squint through the darkness.

"I'm scared."

"Me too, kid," Jane sighed, trying to work on numbing the throb in his head long enough to concentrate. "But are you hurt?"

"Not really," Liam replied. "They pushed me into the van, and that hurt, but they didn't hit me."

"Okay, good," Jane said, trying to make sense of his jumbled thoughts. God, he really wasn't on form today. His memories were foggy at best. Oh, he'd definitely been drugged, though he had absolutely no memory of it. In fact, the last thing he remembered was talking to Lisbon.

Lisbon…

"My phone?" he asked Liam hoarsely.

"They took it," Liam replied shakily. "They found it when they stopped for gas. That's when they hit you. It knocked you out."

Now he remembered, although he wished he didn't. Damn, he wished he'd given Lisbon a bit more information.

"Where are we now?" he asked. All he knew was that they were no longer in the van, and frankly, that thought terrified him.

"Don't know," Liam replied, sounding close to tears. "We stopped ages ago but before they took me out of the van, they blindfolded me and gave me some sort of drug. I woke up here. They must have given it to you too, but…I thought you wouldn't wake up…"

"Hey," Jane interrupted gently. With great effort, Jane began to drag himself over to where he thought the boy was sat. He leant against the wall with a sigh. "I'm fine. See. We're going to be alright."

God, he hoped he wasn't lying to the kid. The truth was though, until he knew who had taken them and why, their lives were pretty much in the balance.

Not that there was anything he could do about it now, he realised. A quick glance around the small dark room told him that they'd be stuck here a while. Why, Jane had no idea, although he had a feeling he wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.

Meh, he'd worry about that when his brain hurt less…

Anyway, he'd spoken to Lisbon. No matter how mad she was with him, Jane knew that she'd stop at nothing to save him.

"Patrick?"

"Yes, Liam?"

"Do you think she's dead?" Liam asked quietly after a few moments pause.

"Lisbon?" Jane asked, a throb in his temple making his confusion even worse. He really hated being drugged...

"No," came the quiet reply. "Jenny."

"Oh, your nanny," Jane replied solemnly. Another memory came roaring back, almost as if it was in Technicolor. When the men with guns had come, the young woman, Jane remembered, had jumped forward to protect the boy. The kidnappers had shown no mercy. A gunshot to the chest had shown just how much these men meant business.

A realisation hit Jane then, his taxed mind working much more slowly than usual. The nanny had been protecting the boy, which could only mean one thing. The boy had needed protecting.

They'd gone for the kid first. They'd been there to kidnap the boy.

They hadn't even seen him at first, Jane remembered, the memory choppy but clear enough. But then another thought hit his mind, a thought that complicated things even more. If they had been aiming for the kid, why, Jane wondered, was _he_ here, and why the hell was he still alive?

None of this made any sense. If only his brain didn't feel so fuzzy…

"She's dead isn't she?" the kid said, having already, it seemed, come to the dark conclusion.

"I'm sorry," Jane replied softly, pushing away his desperate thoughts. "She seemed like a nice lady."

"She was," Liam told him quietly.

They were silent then, although Jane noticed that Liam had shuffled closer to him, leaning into him. Oh, the boy was shaking like a leaf…

"She'll find us, you know," Jane told him quietly.

Liam frowned. "Jenny?"

"Lisbon," Jane corrected gently, closing his eyes for a moment when they began to feel too heavy. Not for the first time, Jane hoped he wasn't lying to the boy. "She's my very best friend, you know. She'll find us."

* * *

**A/N - **So what did you think? This isn't one of my better chapters, but I've fiddled with it a lot and this is as good as I can make it. Hopefully it's okay? Let me know what you think, and until next time, thanks for reading!


	3. Sweet Dreams

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Hello once again. Another chapter has arrived! Thank you for all your reviews and support for this story so far. You truly are wonderful, and I hope you like this newest instalment as well!

* * *

**~ Chapter Three ~**

**Sweet Dreams**

* * *

Exhaustion was nothing new to Patrick Jane. With his relentless hunt for Red John, his work for the CBI and his own battle with insomnia, Jane rarely knew how it felt to be well-rested. In fact, he had lived like that for so long that he was pretty much used to the feeling now.

This situation though…this was really starting to wear on him, even going beyond his normal exhaustion. Jane supposed that it was a combination of worry, fear, the head injury and whatever drugs they'd had him on that was making him so damn tired, but that realisation didn't make him feel better. In fact, it made him feel much, much worse, because somehow he doubted a nap would help him this time.

By Jane's best estimate - since he didn't wear a watch - the drugs had taken about an hour to wear off after his initial, very painful awakening. His head still ached but his mind was clearer somehow, his thoughts at least a little more coherent. With coherency, however, came an alarming increase in panic and stress, and Jane found himself wishing he was almost back in that dissociative state brought on by the drugs.

In fact, the only reason he was glad that _wasn't _the case, was the little boy currently wrapped in his arms.

Liam.

Jane made sure to keep his body still and his breathing even, just in case the young boy was still asleep. He'd dropped off not long after Jane had woken up, and Jane thanked his lucky stars that at least something was going his way. As out-of-sorts as he felt, a hysterical and upset child would only add to his problems. On top of everything else, he had to somehow keep Liam calm. A task, of course, made infinitely easier with the child asleep.

Jane sighed and used his free hand to rub tiredly at his eyes, careful not to jostle the kid.

Now he had to be the strong one. The protector. He scoffed slightly; it would have been amusing had the situation not been so dire. He was the last person who should be protecting anyone. Usually, _he_ was the damsel in distress and his knight in shining armour - Lisbon, of course - was the person who protected _him._

Even on his better days, Jane knew he was a poor fighter. Oh, he could protect himself well enough, keep himself more or less in the running if it came down to a fight, but his policy had always been to run as soon as he had the chance. And after glimpsing the size of these goons, Jane knew, even if they hadn't been armed, he would have stood no chance in a fight against them.

Taking a moment to shove that thought right to the back of his mind, Jane glanced around the room. His eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, and he could make out the door over to his right. There didn't appear to be a handle on it, nor any lock. When Jane had been unconscious, Liam had apparently tried to open the door but had got nowhere. Jane suspected that it was bolted shut from the outside, although he would have to inspect it more closely when the boy woke up.

Even if there was a lock to pick though, somehow Jane doubted that there was something in this room he could use in the room to pick it. The room was small and empty. Jane guessed that it used to be a large storage closet or something, the sort you would find in most office type buildings, but whatever supplies it had held had been long gone. Now it was just him, Liam and the darkness.

For now, he had to content himself with running through the suspect lists for who had done this. Despite his earlier assertion that they had been there to kidnap the boy, he still couldn't work out why they had taken him alive rather than killed him. It didn't make any sense…

"Patrick," came a quiet voice. The boy was no longer asleep then. Damn.

"Yes Liam?" Jane replied gently, his gaze dropping to his side.

"Do you think they've left us here to die?"

Jane sighed deeply, but he didn't answer immediately. Unfortunately, Liam seemed to be a smart kid, and Jane had always been rather against lying to children.

Jane considered the question though. On the one hand, being left for dead certainly wasn't a pleasant thought, and it would no doubt make the kid panic. On the other hand, the thought of the kidnappers returning wasn't particularly reassuring either…

"No," Jane replied softly, making his mind up to stick to his instincts. "I think they'll come back. They need us for something."

"Why would they need us?"

"I don't know, kid," Jane replied, and honestly, although he had hundreds of theories running through his head, thousands of possible scenarios, he still didn't _know._

Judging by the five o'clock shadow Jane could feel on his face, they had to have been locked up in this dark room for hours now, and yet still there had been no appearance from the 'goons' who had kidnapped him and Liam. No explanation. No demand.

Nothing.

Truthfully, it was really starting to annoy Jane. Yes, he was still scared, and a part of him hoped that the kidnappers had gone for good. Another part of him, however, a part that the fear couldn't quite supress, really wanted to just understand what the hell was going on.

He'd always been curious, even as a child, but ever since Red John had taken his family, had destroyed his world, knowing things had become an obsession. A need, a way of dealing with the one thing he _hadn't _known, the one thing he hadn't seen coming…

"I'm scared," Liam whispered from his side. Even though it was quite stuffy in the room, Jane could feel tremors wracking the young boy's frame.

"I'll protect you," Jane replied, his heart thudding. He had no idea how he was going to do it but he would keep his word. He pulled the boy closer to his side. They would hurt Liam over his dead body.

* * *

"Anything?" Lisbon asked, clenching her fists as she tried to supress the urge to pace the bullpen until she'd worked off the nervous energy that had been a problem for her since the moment Jane had called her. Damn the man. Even when he was trying to be a pain in the ass, he still somehow managed it.

Cho shook his head. Lisbon felt a slight pang at the obvious regret in the usually stoic agent's face. There she was, getting annoyed at Jane, when for all they knew, he could be dead, lying in a ditch somewhere…

"Dammit," Lisbon muttered. She ran a hand through her hair in agitation as she forced the thought of Jane's dead body far to the back of her mind.

"Rigsby? Van Pelt?" she asked, turning to her other agents.

"No, Boss," Rigsby replied.

"Sorry, boss," came the soft reply from Grace, and Lisbon fought the urge to growl in frustration.

They had nothing. Nada, as Jane would say. Zilch.

Well, not exactly nothing. When Lisbon had first arrived at the fruit stand, the scene had been a mess. Two bodies had been found, one that was clearly the fruit stand owner, the other a young woman, both dead from a single gunshot to the chest.

There had been no sign of Jane.

His car had been there, just like he'd said it would be, the door wide open and the key in the lock. He'd almost escaped, she'd quickly realised, even before the scene had been properly processed. Damn.

She'd stared at the scene for a long time after that realisation, trying to piece together what had gone down. In the end it had been Cho who had convinced her that they would be better regrouping back at base.

"Dammit," she muttered as she stared at their newest case board, Jane's picture front and centre. It was as if Jane had disappeared off the face of the Earth. SAC PD had set up a perimeter around the area they knew he'd been taken from, but the kidnappers, and Jane, had been long gone by the time anyone else had got there.

"Right," she said, taking a deep breath as she made her decision. "Get his case files and old client lists then. We'll start there."

* * *

"Patrick?"

"Yes, Liam?" Jane replied.

"I…I'm tired," the boy admitted. "But I'm too scared to sleep."

Jane felt his heart constrict slightly as he saw tears well in the boy's eyes.

"How about I tell you a story?" Jane offered gently, shifting to get them both more comfortable.

"A story?"

"It always used to help me when I couldn't sleep," Jane admitted.

"I…I don't know," Liam replied unsurely. "No one's ever told me a story before."

Not for the first time, Jane wondered about the boy's parents, though he kept his curiosity solely to himself. He didn't want to make the boy any more upset than he already was.

"But I tell wonderful stories," Jane said softly, careful to keep his voice level. "Stories that are magical and can help scared little boys forget about all the scary things."

"Magical?" The boy sounded unsure at that, but in the end his fear and exhaustion seemed to overtake everything else. "Okay…"

"Wonderful," Jane said, shifting the boy into a more comfortable position by his side. "Okay… Once upon a time, there was a little boy called Jane – "

"Jane?" Liam interjected. "But Jane's a girl's name"

"Not always," Jane said, supressing his smile. "Are you ready to hear more?"

There was a cautious nod, and Jane took that as licence to continue.

"Now, Jane was a very smart little boy, but he always got into lots of trouble. He wasn't a bad kid though, not really. Just misunderstood."

At Liam's frown of confusion, Jane moved quickly on, though he could help but smile slightly as he continued to speak.

"Now, this little boy didn't have a home," Jane continued, keeping his voice soft and even. "Instead, he lived in a trailer and travelled all the carnival circuits around America. He used to help his father with shows, but sometimes he'd get time off and he got to go on some of the big rides at the carnivals. His favourite was the big wheel. He liked to stay on it all day, closing his eyes as it went round and round...

Jane glanced at the little boy and saw that his eyes were already drooping. Good.

"Doesn't that sound nice, Liam?" he continued softly. "Round and round, high in the air where the birds fly and no one can hurt you. You're safe on the wheel, Liam. Safe as you go round and round…"

Jane trailed off. Liam was already fast asleep, mouth slightly open as he leant into Jane's side. Jane shifted to get more comfortable, careful not to wake the young boy.

Jane sighed. Well, that was one problem solved, at least for the moment. Now all he had to do was find a way out of here without alerting their kidnappers or putting Liam in any kind of danger, and then everything would be just peachy…

* * *

**A/N- **So what did you think. I find myself less than pleased with this chapter for some reason, but I'm sick of fiddling with it now. Sorry if it isn't quite up to my usual standards, but I hope you liked it anyway. Thanks for reading!


	4. Meeting the Goons

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Well hello my wonderful readers! Sorry for the slight delay in getting this chapter out. I've been extremely busy lately (graduating from University will do that to you) but hopefully I'll have a bit more free time once everything calms down. For now though, hope you enjoy this newest instalment. I've had a bit of trouble with explaining why Jane was taken in the first place, so if it doesn't quite make sense, feel free to review or PM me and I'll try to explain in better in future chapters. Until then, enjoy and thanks for reading!

* * *

**~ Chapter Four ~**

** Meeting the Goons**

* * *

The door slammed open, jerking Jane out of the light doze he'd fallen into. He blinked rapidly at the sudden burst of light, only to be greeted with the silhouette of what seemed to be a giant standing firmly in the doorway.

"Patrick…?" Liam began sleepily.

"Hush, Liam," Jane said gently, his heart thudding in his chest and anxiousness spreading through his body like wildfire. "Everything's okay. Go back to sleep."

Jane kept his gaze fixed firmly on the figure in the doorway as he gently prised Liam from his side. The boy fought him slightly but seemed too exhausted to resist too much. Jane hoped he stayed that way, for the boy's own sake if nothing else, because he had a feeling that things were about to get a little more complicated.

"Get up," ordered the 'goon' in the doorway. Jane immediately jumped up, his heart thudding loudly in his chest. He swayed slightly from the dizziness no doubt left behind by the drugs, but he managed to stay on his feet at least. He groaned before he could stop himself though, and Liam began to stir at the sudden noise. Jane turned back to the doorway nervously.

"Just me, yes?" Jane said quietly, trying to make his voice sound carefree. He squinted at the figure in the doorway, trying to work out who he was dealing with. "We don't need to involve the boy in this…"

"Shut up," growled the huge man. He moved forward towards Jane, and Jane flinched back slightly.

"I just mean that we can talk man to man," Jane said, somewhat desperately, glancing over to Liam with slight panic. "Liam can stay here…"

"The boy can stay," the man said threateningly, and somehow Jane wasn't completely reassured. "The boss only wants to see you anyhow."

The way the goon had said that send tendrils of fear down Jane's spine, but he let out a breath of relief anyway. At least Liam would be relatively safe here. Scared, but safe. Somehow, Jane didn't think, wherever he was being taken, that the same could be said about him…

"Move," growled the man, jabbing Jane in the chest with a gun that he had only just noticed. Damn, he really needed to concentrate a bit better…

Shakily Jane staggered out of the door and into what looked to be a deserted office corridor. Where the hell was he…?

"Move," repeated the goon, and Jane took the hint and started to walk where he was directly. Jane gulped back his fear as best he could, but couldn't quite keep the panic from rising slightly in his chest. Questions pounded at his mind, adding to the dizziness that was already there. Not for the first time, he wished he had back up. Usually, Lisbon, Cho or Rigsby were waiting around the corner with their guns, ready to save him and arrest the culprit.

But when they rounded yet another corner, Jane saw no rescue. The place was like a maze of offices, and Jane wondered, not for the first time, where the hell they were. If this was an office building, a fact that was looking increasingly likely, where were all the office workers?

"In there," came the order from the man behind him. Jane hesitated slightly in front of the shut door, but a quick, hard shove from the goon quickly dispelled any brief doubt he'd had.

Taking a deep breath, Jane grasped the handle with shaky fingers and pulled open the door. The light in the room was brighter than it had been in the corridor and it took a few seconds for Jane's eyes to adjust. When they did, however, he saw nothing to ease his panic.

More goons. Wonderful.

Six of them, Jane counted in a glance, including the one who had brought him of course. Jane moved slowly into the room, wary of making himself a target but even more wary of the gun at his back.

His eyes darted around the room, desperately trying to gather every little bit of information he could about where he was and who had taken him. The six goons were all relatively similar in description; well-built, tall, thick and dumb. There was one other man, standing right in the centre of the room, however, who was different. He was short, fat, possibly of Italian descent, and though his narrow eyes spoke of cruelty and danger, there was also a hint of fear in his gaze. Fear of what, Jane wondered. Was it something he could use...?

"Sit," boomed the short, fat man in the centre of the room, his surprisingly deep voice loud and full of threat. Was he the leader then? Jane glanced behind him and quickly did as he was told, taking a seat in the wooden chair in the centre of the room. All the goons remained standing, and Jane gulped back his fear at the blatant attempt at intimidation as best he could.

"Hello, can I ask – ?"

"Shut up," interrupted one of the goons standing behind Jane. The others looked on dangerously, and Jane quickly followed the instruction.

"No," said the short, fat man who seemed to be in charge. He swiped at his sweaty brow and fixed his beady eyes on Jane. "Let him speak. I'd like to hear what he has to say."

"Oh," Jane began, not sure what to make of this development. He certainly seemed to be 'leader of the goons', but Jane was equally sure that the man was scared of something. Or someone…

"Well, what is it you were going to say?" the leader prompted.

"I was just going to ask who was in charge," Jane said, trying to inject his voice with confidence, "But I think I have my answer, don't you?"

"Oh, I'm sure you do," the man replied, eyebrow raised.

"Well, I'd say it was nice to meet you," Jane continued, "But we both know that isn't true."

"But we've been such good hosts, don't you think?"

"I have a few complaints," Jane shrugged bravely.

To his surprise, the short, fat man chuckled. It irked Jane, and for a moment, annoyance overtook fear in Jane's mind. It only took a brief glance around the room for reality to come crashing back though. Damn, he was in trouble here.

"So, what do I call you?" Jane continued shakily, trying his best to control the situation.

"You can call me Venom," the man replied, his expression hardening. Jane gulped but pressed on.

"Venom?" he frowned. "That's a bit of a silly name isn't it? Did your mother call you that – "

A fist struck his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Jane struggled to force his breaths in and out, the pain sharp and intense, and he managed to stay in the chair by pure will alone.

"What was that for?" Jane asked gasped, once he could breathe again.

"I deserve respect, don't you think?" the man said dangerously. "After all, your life is in my hands."

"Why am I here?" Jane asked hoarsely, half-afraid of the answer, but sensing that they were getting to the purpose of this little visit.

"A mistake," Venom replied bluntly, glancing to one of his men. "A stupid mistake."

"You weren't meant to take me then?" Jane tried to confirm, his heart beating loudly in his chest.

The leader rose his eyebrows in curiosity. "Is there a reason we _should_ have targeted you?"

"I have money," Jane shrugged. He knew on instinct alone that mentioning his work at the CBI would be a very big mistake, and truthfully, he _did _have money. As much as he was ashamed of it now, scamming people _had _paid well.

"This isn't about ransom," Venom replied with a growl. "Or it wasn't supposed to be anyway..."

Once again, the man glared to one of his goons, and Jane wondered what was going on. Nothing was making any sense, and his head throbbed dangerously as he tried to work through it. They had been targeting the boy. They hadn't meant to take him, but for some reason, he was here anyway...

"What's this about then?" Jane asked desperately. "Why take the boy?"

"You care for him, do you?" Venom shot back, a smirk on his face. "I'd suggest you don't get too attached."

"Why?" Jane asked, dread filling his stomach.

"Little Liam has a very important daddy, you see," Venom replied nastily. "A judge. And Mr Big-shot judge seems to need a little…nudging in the right direction."

It all fell into place for Jane, at least with regards to Liam. That was why they had taken the kid. Liam's dad was a judge, probably working on a very high-profile case at this very moment. Bastards...

"You going to try to sway his decision?" Jane asked hoarsely.

"We're going to succeed in swaying his decision," corrected the man dangerously.

"Why me then?" Jane asked desperately. "Why take me? Why not just kill me like you killed the others."

"That is the question, isn't it," began Venom, glaring at his man. "Care to explain, Link?"

Jane's head darted around, following the Venom's gaze as it fixed on one of the goons.

Link gulped slightly, but raised his head definitely. "He's famous, I'm sure of it. I recognise him from somewhere, I swear it. There's got to be some cash there, ain't there boss?"

"I don't know, Link," Venom said, a glare aimed at Jane. "He sure doesn't look famous to me."

"He...he is," the man said desperately. "I'm sure...if I could just remember where from..."

"This is a lot to risk for some money," Jane commented before he could help himself.

"That's what you get for hiring outside help," muttered Venom angrily. "Everyone always thinks they can add their own little twists to the plan, and who has to clean it up? Me..."

"If it that much trouble, why are you keeping me then?" Jane asked.

"Are you asking us to kill you instead," the leader replied dangerously. "Because that can be arranged..."

"No…," Jane said quickly, his heart beat quickening. "Look I have money. I…can get it to you. If you let me and the boy go."

"The boy's going to be a bit busy, I'm afraid." Venom replied, sounding not the least bit sorry. "How much money?"

Jane hesitated, his mind working overtime. "A lot. He's right," he jerked his head over to the goon named Link. "I am famous. Or at least I was."

"Oh yeah?" the man replied. "Famous how?"

"Well...I'm a psychic."

* * *

**A/N - **So what did you think? I realise this might all be getting quite confusing, but hopefully the next chapter will clear things up a bit. I hope you're following okay so far though, and that you're enjoying it. Let me know if you've got a minute, but even if you don't, thanks for reading!


	5. Patrick Ruskin, Psychic

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Hi, once again. Thanks for your response to the last chapter. Those of you who reviewed really calmed some of my fears for this story and I am eternally grateful for that. This chapter wasn't easy to write - it's pretty short and if it comes across as disjointed, then let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. For now though, I really hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**~ Chapter Five ~**

**Patrick Ruskin, Psychic**

* * *

"Really?" scoffed Venom, and Jane heard a few jeers around the goons as well. Jane kept his face expressionless, although he had to push away the sudden, irrational need to laugh. God, if only these men had an inkling of how he actually felt about 'psychics'…

"Yep," Jane said, trying to project confidence with every fibre of his being. He might not be at his absolute best, but he'd been doing this gig for most of his life – the last few years excepted – and he was damn good at it, even if he did say so himself.

He fixed his eyes onto 'Venom'. He knew that if he could somehow win over the leader, convince him that he really was a famous psychic, and that he really did have a lot of money - that last bit actually was true, so it shouldn't be too difficult, he told himself - then the goons would have no choice to go along with it, whether they believed it themselves or not. The tricky bit was going to be convincing them that he was famous and rich without making them suspicious enough to check it out.

He took a deep, steadying breath. Time to put on a show.

"Patrick Ruskin's the name," he lied, choosing a name that he was familiar enough with to remember with ease. He didn't want to risk one of them recognising him from his associations with CBI, and though they may not have recognised his face yet, if he gave them his real name then there was always a chance that it would jog their memories. Best to keep it simple.

Jane smiled again, falling into his showman side with an ease that would have worried him had his life not depended on it.

"You're really a psychic?" Venom said, glaring at Jane. It was clear that he would be a hard man to convince. "And there are idiots out there who pay you for it?"

"They used to," Jane replied with a shrug. He smiled. "I can be very convincing. Shall I show you?"

"Sure," drawled Venom with a roll of his eyes.

Jane took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He willed his limbs to stop shaking, almost pushing himself further in the chair to keep himself calm. His life was on the line here…

"I see an old woman," he started after waiting a few minutes for effect, his voice dropping into the tone he had used in all his shows. Low and mysterious. "She's crying."

"She dead?" asked Venom bluntly, a sneer on his lips.

"Yes, she's dead," Jane replied, keeping his eyes closed. "I'm a psychic, of course she's dead."

"And…"

"Shhh," Jane said. "I'm trying to listen….Okay, she's talking to me. She…she seems very sad. I don't think she wanted to die. She's asking me why she had to die."

He jerked slightly as part of the act. Physical movements always seemed to help sell the con. It was as if the marks needed to actually 'see' it to believe it, and right now, Jane was willing to use any trick in the book.

"She's angry," Jane whispered dramatically. "She's says you killed her. It was your fault."

"My fault?" scoffed Venom. "I've never killed an old lady in my life."

Jane somehow doubted that was true, but he ignored the comment. Instead he opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on one of the goons. His mark.

"You," he said, pointing to the man, who flinched slightly at the attention. In that moment, Jane knew that he had nailed it in one.

"I…I don't know what he's talking about, boss," the goon replied. "I ain't never killed no old lady either."

"Yes, you did," Jane said, thinking hard. The man wasn't lying but there was something there…

"No – "

"It was your fault," Jane said suddenly, jerking again as if possessed. "It was all your fault, and that's as bad as killing her. Your own mother…"

"I didn't mean to," the man gasped out. Jane knew he had him now.

"You put her in danger and now she's dead," Jane continued, keeping his voice low.

"I…I'm sorry," replied the goon desperately. "Tell her…tell her Jamie's sorry."

Jane closed his eyes again and relished the silence of the room. His performance had scored again, and hopefully the pay this time would be that he could keep his life…

"He's sorry," Jane told the room. "Jamie is very sorry. He asks for your forgiveness. He knows it was a terrible thing, but he is so very sorry…"

He stilled his body, preparing himself for the final act. He released a long, slow breath, making it seem as all the tension was leaving his body.

Jane opened his eyes and looked at Jamie, pausing for a long moment to let the tension build for the finale.

"She forgives you," Jane said softly. "Your mother forgives you."

By the look of overwhelming relief, Jane knew that he had nailed it completely, and he let a real breath leave his body in relief.

He'd based the whole act on the fact that he'd seen the crucifix poking out from the young man's shirt. It had looked feminine to Jane's practiced eye, so he had immediately suspected that it had belonged to a member of the goon's family. Since 'Jamie' was wearing it, even though it clearly belonged to a woman, that had led Jane to suspect that the owner had passed on and that he was wearing it for sentimental reasons, hence dead mother. The rest of the act had been based on a general air of guilt around the man, a lot of guesswork and no small amount of luck.

But ultimately, Jane determined as he looked around the room, yet another roaring success.

"Damn," breathed Venom. "You really are a psychic."

"Told you he was famous, boss," chimed the goon who had first recognised Jane.

"And you made money off this?" Venom said dangerously, his glare fixed on Jane. He seemed almost disappointed that he wouldn't be able to kill Jane, but Jane saw the glint of greed in his eyes. This man was clearly working for a higher – and probably more intelligent criminal – but he was also obviously a man used to getting what he wanted.

"A lot," Jane said, telling the truth for once. "People pay a lot of money to speak to their loved ones from the beyond."

Jane gulped after he'd finished speaking, trying to calm his shaking hands as he pushed his fear back as far as he could. This was the moment of truth. Would they buy his story and keep him for ransom, or would they kill him and save themselves a hell of a lot of trouble…

"I do not like unnecessary complications," Venom began slowly. He pointed at Jane. "You are an unnecessary complication."

"But…" began Jane, hardly daring to hope. His heart beat loudly in his chest and he felt sweat drip down his back.

"But," continued the leader, "You could make me a very rich man. I bet there are hundreds of suckers out there who'd pay out their asses to see you talk to the dead. You must be loaded."

Jane nodded shakily. "You're not going to kill me then?"

"Not yet," he replied with an ugly sneer that sent shivers down Jane's spine. "Take him back to the room. Give them some food and let them use the restroom. It appears that we have ourselves another guest."

"What about the ransom?" Jane asked, as one of the men grabbed him, pulling him forcibly from the chair.

The man chuckled darkly. "I find that ransoms work so much better if we wait a while before contacting the families. Desperation makes people easier to…manipulate."

Jane shuddered but was spared a reaction by the beefy hand that gripped his shoulder.

"Move."

Jane did as he was told, rattled by his meeting with the leader of this gang. He had always been able to read people, but for once he rather wished he'd lost that particular skill. Venom was a psychopath, there was no doubt about it. Cold hearted, clearly intelligent, the man was shrewd and ruthless. He might have been stupid enough to buy the psychic act for now, but he was clearly blinded by greed and not thinking clearly. Jane knew he had to do everything in his power to keep it that way, because he knew on instinct alone that that man would kill him in heartbeat if he thought Jane could cause him trouble.

"Come on, Lisbon," Jane muttered to himself as he was guided through the winding corridors and eventually pushed forcibly back into the room. "Now would be a great time to come in and save the day…"

The door slammed shut, and Jane stumbled in the darkness, eventually grabbing onto the wall to keep himself upright. The punch he'd taken to the ribs, combined with the drugs and concussion, meant that his strength had been pretty much used up in maintaining his psychic act. He was exhausted, scared and though he knew he'd just bought himself some time, his life – and Liam's – were still very much in the balance.

"Patrick?" Liam said desperately, apparently now fully awake and clearly terrified. "You're alive!"

"Yes, I'm alive, kiddo," Jane replied tiredly, trying to keep the panic and fear out of his voice. He slid down the wall until he was sat down, not even bothering to allow his eyes to adjust. "I'm over here, on the floor. Alive and well."

How much longer he'd be alive however, Jane realised as he felt Liam snuggle into his side, suddenly seemed a lot less certain.

* * *

**A/N** - So how was it? I know there isn't much Jane and Liam interaction in this one, but fear not, there will be lots more to come. We'll also be hearing from the team as well, so there's plenty to look forward to. I hope you stick with me, but for now, thanks for reading!


	6. A Troublemaker

**********Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N- **So here arrives another chapter, and reasonably quickly as well! Thank you for all the kind words I received after posting the last instalment. It's a little bit longer this time, but there isn't much action I'm afraid. It's all building though, so please be patient. For now though, enjoy the read!

* * *

**~ Chapter Six ~ **

**A Troublemaker**

* * *

Once both he and Liam had been escorted to the restroom – something Jane was eternally grateful for, since he had no desire to live like an animal – they'd been locked back in the dark room once again. At least this time, Jane thought to himself, they'd also been given some food and water. It wasn't much – just a couple of sandwiches that looked like they'd been picked up at a gas station and two bottles of room-temperature water – but to someone who hadn't eaten for almost the entire day, it was heaven. Well, almost...

"I'm not hungry," muttered Liam, looking towards the sandwich Jane was offering him with no small amount of disgust.

"Meh, it's not that bad," Jane decided with a tentative sniff. It wouldn't be the best meal either of them had had, but he knew that they couldn't afford to turn down food while they had it.

He took a cautious bite, with Liam watching on with what looked to be morbid fascination, but even though he'd been nothing short of starving, Jane had to force himself to swallow it.

Jane frowned. "Well, I suppose it _is _that bad, but…well, I don't think we're going to get a lot of choice…"

He tried to push the other sandwich back towards the boy, but Liam was steadfastly refusing it. Jane didn't know if it was the fear that was taking the child's appetite away, but he did know that he needed to do something about it.

"Don't want it," Liam mumbled stubbornly, although Jane heard the tell-tale sound of a rumbling stomach that said otherwise.

"It's important to keep up your strength, you know," Jane began softly, taking another disgusting bite as he tried to follow his own advice. "We're going to need it for when we escape."

Deep down he knew that he shouldn't be giving the boy false hope, especially when they were in such a dire situation, but a part of him needed to. _He_ needed to cling to the hope that he would get out of here, and that he and Liam would be safe, because he knew that if he gave up now, then the fight was already over.

Of course, Jane didn't know if anyone was listening in, hearing him speak of escape, but his instincts told him they weren't. It wasn't that 'Venom' wasn't intelligent, it was more to do with their resources – or lack of them. By sticking him and Liam in a storage room, it was obvious that they'd either had a last minute change of plans, or they'd been working on a very tight deadline with little money.

If it was indeed the latter - as Jane suspected, since the men reeked of desperation - then it was unlikely that they'd have the equipment to monitor the conversations between him and Liam. Add to that the fact that the 'goons' - as he'd dubbed them – probably wouldn't even _think _of listening in on them, and Jane thought it was fairly safe to talk freely.

"You think we can escape?" Liam asked, hope flickering in his eyes.

"Of course," Jane replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "There's always a way out. I expect it will take us a little time to find it this time, but I'm sure we will."

"Do you think your friend Teresa will find us?" Liam asked.

Jane pushed the sandwich towards the boy once again, and this time Liam took it. He inspected it closely, but didn't eat it yet, although Jane smiled to himself at the small victory.

"She _is _very good at finding things," Jane answered with a small smile. "I've lost count of the number of times that she's saved me."

"Do you get into trouble a lot?" Liam asked with a frown as he took a cautious bite of the sandwich. He grimaced at the taste and Jane nodded sympathetically, although he did take another bite of the sandwich, gesturing for Liam to do the same.

"Oh, yes," Jane replied with a grin, swallowing as best he could without tasting. "I get into trouble all the time. It drives her mad."

"If you annoy her, why does she keep saving you?" Liam asked with childish curiosity and innocence.

Jane cringed slightly at the home-truths laced within that brief, innocent question, but forced himself to answer.

"She...likes me, I think," Jane replied quietly. "I _hope _she likes me. I hope I make her happy sometimes as well annoying her."

"Oh…"

"She's also a cop, so it's her job I suppose," Jane continued, whispering conspiratorially, simultaneously pushing away the self-pitying thoughts that were threatening to rise up. "You definitely shouldn't tell the goons that though. It can be our little secret."

Liam giggled slightly, and Jane felt a grin cross his own face at the sight. God, this boy was brave. He felt his own courage rise slightly in his chest. Maybe they could survive this.

"I don't think you should call them goons," Liam replied, a smile still on his face. "I don't think they'd like it much."

"No, I don't suppose they would."

Jane took another bite of the sandwich, swigging it down with some water as he contemplated his next step. There were two ways he could go with this situation now. On the one hand, Venom and his gang seemed to have bought his spiel about being a psychic, at least for the moment, so he could simply wait it out until Venom decided it was time to make the ransom demand.

Jane did have money, so that wouldn't be a problem. No, the problem with that plan was that, even if by some miracle Venom let him go after getting the money – something that Jane didn't believe for a second – there was still the small matter of the little boy.

They hadn't taken Liam for money, so Jane figured no amount of cash was going to buy the boy a way out. He also suspected that even if Liam's dad, the Judge, _did _change his decision to save his son, there was no guarantee that the gang would honour the deal. In fact, Jane believed it was much more likely that they'd simply kill them both and run once they'd got what they wanted.

That left one option then, Jane decided. He would have to ruffle up some feathers and see what fell out. At the very least, he needed to find some way to contact Lisbon. Without her, there was no way he was going to be able to get out of this situation without putting Liam in unacceptable danger. No, he needed to call the cavalry and let Lisbon and the team save the day.

"Patrick?"

"Yes, Liam?"

"Do you think they'll hurt us?"

Jane frowned and did his best to look reassuring, even as his heart clenched in fear. "I don't think they'll hurt you – "

"But I don't want you to get hurt either!"

"I'm tougher than I look," Jane replied gently. And it was true. Wearing a waistcoat, he knew, often made him look like he wouldn't be out of place at an English garden party, but Jane had been in enough fights in his life to know that he could take care of himself. Oh, he'd never be able to take out someone who'd been trained to fight, but you didn't survive pissing off as many people as he had without being able to take a bit of pain.

"Trust me, Liam," Jane continued softly. "I know it's hard, and I know you're scared. I'm scared too, but we've got to stick together, you and me. They might hurt me, but I promise, I won't let them hurt you and I especially won't let them kill either of us. We'll get out of here, Liam. We will."

"I…I trust you, Patrick," Liam began, his head bowed slightly. "You're the nicest man I've ever met…"

Jane frowned. "What about your dad?"

Liam just shrugged, although Jane detected a small amount of hurt in the boy's eyes. "I don't see him much."

"Is he busy a lot?" Jane guessed.

"Yeah," mumbled Liam. "He's always at work now. He used to come home a lot more when I was little but then mom died and well…"

"Ah," Jane said quietly, frowning slightly. "Well, I'm sure he loves you very much. Sometimes, when people lose loved ones, they find it difficult to cope…"

What an understatement that was, Jane thought wryly. He'd been a mess after he'd lost his wife and child. He still was actually...

"Doesn't matter," Liam mumbled, although Jane could tell that it mattered very much. He felt his heart break at the boy's desolate expression, and he found himself wanted to wipe it away.

"My dad was no great shakes either," Jane admitted softly. Another understatement, but there was no way for the kid to know that.

"Did you not see him much either?"

"Ah, no," Jane replied quickly. "I saw a little too much of him actually. He wasn't a very good dad."

"Did he not love you?" Liam asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure," Jane admitted, as he thought about the question. Certainly, his father had never said those words to his face. Jane's relationship with his father had always been more than a little fraught, to say the least. They'd always butted heads more than they'd got on, and for most of his childhood, Jane had rather wished he hadn't had a father at all.

Jane's mother had died when he'd only been a young child however, so he hadn't had much choice of course. The other folks in the carnival looked out for him well enough, so it hadn't been all bad, but the relationship between him and his father had always made life infinitely more difficult. It didn't help that the man had been an insufferable, degenerate, sinking any money they made into whores and gambling. Being poor certainly hadn't helped them get on.

But had his father loved him, despite all that? Jane supposed he would never know for sure now…

"My dad loves me," Liam said suddenly, although there was a brief flicker of doubt in the young boy's gaze. "He said so."

"Then it must be true," Jane said softly, believing every word.

He really hoped that things between Liam and his dad were different. Jane wouldn't wish what he'd gone through on anyone, least of all the bright, innocent child beside him. Liam deserved better than that, Jane decided. He only hoped that once the man started to move past his grief, he'd realise was a wonderful treasure he still had in his life.

Jane glanced down at the young boy and saw Liam's eyes struggle to stay open. Despite the nap that afternoon, it was clear that the kid was reaching the edge of his endurance. It was late, they'd been fed, and truthfully, it was time they both got some rest.

"Come on," Jane began gently, picking up the empty plastic sandwich containers and throwing them to the other end of the room. "It's time we went to sleep. It's way past my bedtime."

Liam smiled but seemed too tired in truth to do much else. Quickly, Jane shrugged off his waistcoat and bundled it up to make a makeshift pillow for the boy.

"Why don't you lie down here," Jane suggested, letting Liam lie beside him. "I'll be right here."

"You should get some sleep too, Patrick," Liam said sleepily as he lay his head on the ground. "We're gonna need our strength remember…"

"I remember kiddo," Jane replied softly. With a quick shuffle, Jane shifted so that his back and head were rested against the wall. His head was still a bit fuzzy and his chest and ribs ached terribly, but he was relatively comfortable.

Slowly, as Liam's breathing evened out, Jane allowed his eyes to close. One way or another, tomorrow was going to be a big day. Liam was right; he was going to need every bit of strength he had.

* * *

"Boss, I've got something."

Lisbon made her way over to Grace, hope barely flickering in her chest.

"What is it, Van Pelt?" she asked quickly, trying to work out from her agent's body language alone whether or not she had good news.

"I've been cross-checking Jane's client list with our criminal database like you asked, but so far I haven't had much luck. Then I had a thought, so I checked the list with the two victims and the witnesses we've found of the van driving away. It seemed a good idea…you know, after last time.

Lisbon knew exactly where she was coming from, and she only wished she'd thought of it. Thank God for her team...

"Anything?" she asked, heart thudding loudly in her chest. They desperately needed a lead. Jane had apparently disappeared without a trace, and apart from the panicked phone call that morning, they'd had no contact from him. They didn't know if he was okay, if he was hurt, or if he was even alive...

"No," Van Pelt replied apologetically, and Lisbon's heart dropped. Damn.

"Oh," Lisbon replied, trying to school her features so that they didn't betray her disappointment.

"There was something odd though, with one of the victims." Van Pelt brought up a picture of the female victim. "It's Jenny Harvey. I know we think that the two victims were only killed because they were witnesses, but as I was checking her out, I noticed something a bit...well, strange. She's listed as a nanny in full-time employment, but we found nothing to suggest that at the scene. I called her employers and they said that she was supposed to be looking after their son Liam on the day in question."

"Oh, shit," Lisbon muttered, eyes widening in realisation as she caught on. "Where's the kid?"

* * *

**A/N - **So what did you think? I would love some feedback on this chapter. I'm a little nervous about the interaction between Jane and Liam to be honest, because Jane is really good with kids in the show and I really wanted to build on that foundation in this story. I hope I've achieved that, at least to some extent. Please let me know!


	7. Plan A

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N –** Sorry for the delay with this one. I've been busy recently - too busy to think, let alone write - but I finally found some time to get something down. To make up for the wait, I've added a little action into this chapter, so hopefully this update will be a bit more exciting than usual. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**~ Chapter Seven ~**

**Plan A**

* * *

Jane scrunched his face up in concentration. "Okay…erm, is it an animal?"

"Nope," came Liam's confident reply.

Jane feigned surprise as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration once again. They'd been playing the game for a good couple of hours already, but for some reason Liam wasn't bored of it yet. Jane didn't mind that so much though; he'd always loved playing games like this with Charlotte, and – although he felt immensely guilty for the thought, considering the fact that they were still in incredible danger – Jane found that he was glad he was being given another chance to have this kind of interaction.

"It's not an animal?" he asked, exaggerating his surprise. "Are you sure?"

Liam nodded seriously. "It's not an animal, I swear."

"Alright," Jane replied, pausing to give the appearance of intense thought. He had to supress his smile though. "Let me see. Hmm...is it an alien animal?"

Liam giggled loudly at Jane's ridiculous guess and Jane allowed a large grin to cross his face. They had been left alone all night by Jane's best guess, and both of them were well and truly fed up. Jane figured that it was probably morning – a good few hours after dawn now – so they could probably expect a visit from the 'goons' any time now. And when someone did eventually come and check on them…well, Jane had a plan.

Not a particularly good one, he admitted to himself silently, but since he had recently been drugged, knocked out _and_ punched in the ribs, he was rather impressed that he'd managed to come up with any sort of plan at all.

Jane shook himself slightly and shoved those particularly depressing thoughts away as best he could, forcibly turning his attention back to the boy beside him. Plan or not, Jane knew he had to keep Liam's spirits up, hence the game of twenty questions of course. The fact that Jane was also having fun was just an added bonus…

"No it's not _any _kind of animal," Liam reiterated, although his grin told Jane that he was amused rather than annoyed. Good.

"Okay," Jane said slowly, smiling slightly. "Is it a plant?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's a plant.""

"Right," Jane continued. "Is it…"

His voice trailed off as the sound of footsteps reached his ears. It was faint, but clear. Someone was coming…

"What - ?"

"Shh," Jane hissed to Liam, and the boy immediately closed his mouth. Jane took a deep breath to try and calm his heartbeat. No sense in panicking Liam as well. "Listen to me, okay. This is very important. I need you to be very brave. Can you do that Liam?"

Liam nodded, but fear lit up his young face. Jane felt apprehension clench his stomach as well, but he did his best to shove it back down. He needed to be strong.

It was time to implement his plan.

He'd done a lot of thinking last night and had come to only one conclusion. He had to contact Lisbon. He was well out of his depth here, and truthfully it was only a matter of time before the goons got rid of them, with or without the ransom. If he'd been on his own, Jane might have waited it out a bit longer, maybe until the ransom was finally demanded, but with Liam to think about, he knew he had to act sooner rather than later.

No matter what the price, he would make sure Liam was safe.

Jane squared his shoulders slightly as he looked back to Liam. He had the boy's undivided attention. Good.

"Okay," Jane whispered, well aware that the footsteps were almost upon them. "Liam, I have a plan, but I'm going to need your help, okay?"

"Are you going to get us out of here?" Liam replied quietly.

"I'm going to try," Jane said hoarsely, his mouth becoming drier the longer he considered how risky his plan actually was. Jane shook himself slightly. "But I need you to be really quiet okay. Go and lie down over there by the corner and pretend to be asleep. Can you do that?"

"But – "

"No, Liam," Jane whispered frantically. "It's very important, okay. No matter what happens, no matter what they do to me, you need to stay quiet. Don't get involved, alright? Keep pretending to be asleep"

The boy looked back at him, terrified eyes boring into his. Jane swallowed, praying to a god he didn't believe in that this stupid plan of his wasn't stupid enough to get them both killed.

"Okay, Patrick," Liam eventually mumbled after a long moment, and without another word, the boy walked quickly over to the corner where they'd slept and lay straight down on the floor to rest his head on the makeshift pillow.

"Good boy," Jane said softly as he turned his attention back to the door. It was not a moment too soon as well, because whoever had come to check on them had finally arrived at the bolted door. The bolt was removed, and Jane saw light flicker into the room as the door began to squeak open. He steeled himself as best he could.

It was time.

* * *

"Anything, Grace?"

Lisbon watched as Van Pelt looked up from her notes, glancing worriedly at the rest of the team, who were all sat around the conference table and eagerly awaiting news. Lisbon sighed slightly; she was just as eager at the rest of them of course, but she was trying desperately not to give in to the feeling. She was the boss, like it or not, and if they had any hope of finding Jane, Lisbon knew that she needed to stay calm, in control, and as objective as possible.

"I've checked with the Crime Scene guys," Van Pelt told the team, "But there was nothing at the scene to link any Jane's past clients to the scene."

"And the kid?" Lisbon asked, trying to taper back her worry. "Have we seen any sign of him?"

"Nothing so far," answered Cho.

"So he could be alive then, boss?" interjected Rigsby hopefully.

"For now we're going to work on that assumption," Lisbon decided. "It can't be a coincidence. Both Jane and the boy were last seen at that location. We're going to treat this case as a double kidnapping until we know otherwise."

"What do you want us to do now then, boss?" asked Cho with a nod of acceptance at her decision.

"You and Rigsby, go talk to the boy's family. See if they've heard from the kidnappers yet about a ransom."

"Okay, boss," chorused the two of them.

"And me?" asked Van Pelt.

"Grace, I need you to see if you can find a link between Jane and the kid. Go through all his records if you have to. The kidnappers have taken them both for a reason. We need to find out what that reason is."

"Yes, boss."

Without another word, the team dispersed to tackle the tasks they'd been set. Alone once again, Lisbon ran a shaky hand through her hair as she pulled herself out of the chair and made her way back to her office.

Someone had taken Jane _and_ an innocent child, and she was going to do everything she could to find out who was behind it.

No matter what it took, she was going to bring him back.

* * *

"That's so much better," Jane sighed, turning away from the urinal. Careful not to make eye contact with the goon who had escorted him to the restroom, Jane walked slowly over to the sinks as he pondered the best time to make his move.

Soon, he decided after thinking it over from every possible angle. Right now, Liam was still safely tucked away in the storeroom, so Jane knew that if he was going to act, now would be the best time to do it.

"Move it," growled the goon. The large man was standing by the opposite wall, his arms crossed threateningly, a gun - almost certainly loaded - held firmly in one of his ridiculously large hands. Jane gulped slightly. God, this was a stupid plan...

"Come on, hurry up."

"I am, I am," Jane mumbled as he washed his hands. As surreptitiously as he could, Jane cupped his hand so that he could collect some of the water. He steeled himself; now to wait for the perfect moment.

After a few seconds of waiting, the goon moved closed to Jane, trying to work out what was taking him so long.

"What –?"

Before the man could finish his sentence, Jane spun around and threw the water into the goon's eyes, causing the man to stagger back slightly as he threw a hand up to his face. Quickly, using the element of surprise to his advantage, Jane hit down onto the goon's other arm with all the strength he could muster, successfully managing to knock the gun out of his hand and send it clattering to the floor.

Good, Jane thought as he let out a heavy breath. Now for the next phase of the plan…

Jane charged at the man as hard as he could before the goon had any chance to recover, hoping that he still had the element of surprise over the much larger man. Jane collided with a thud, and although the wind left his lungs on impact, somehow he managed to knock the goon back slightly with the contact.

The large man soon recovered though, and quickly pushed Jane away from him, sending him straight into the wall. Jane managed to protect himself for the most part, but he still felt a shooting pain race across his shoulder as he hit the wall at speed.

Ow…

Before he could get into any position to defend himself, the goon was on Jane in a flash, grabbing his shirt as he yanked him away from the wall.

Jane braced himself for the impact he knew was coming. The goon's fist flew at his face before he could even register it though, and Jane's head snapped to the side from the force of the punch. His legs collapsed from under him, and it was only the goon's firm grip on his shirt that kept him upright.

"You little bastard," the goon growled, shoving Jane backwards so that he hit the wall again. He gave Jane no time to recover before he released another punch, this time aiming for his ribs. The contact was hard and fast, and sent the air from Jane's lungs. Pain clouded his mind, but he pushed it away as best he could.

"I'm…sorry…" Jane mumbled, still a little disorientated.

"Too late for that now," the goon replied angrily. "You're just lucky the boss said we should keep you alive. Not sure he'll be saying the same after I tell him about this little stunt."

"No," Jane mumbled. "Please…"

"Save it for someone who cares," the larger man growled. He yanked on Jane's shirt, pulling him to the door and out into the corridor.

Jane stumbled along as the man dragged him back to the storage room. He tried to keep his mind clear, but the constant ringing in his ears made that task almost impossible.

"Ow…"

"Shut it," growled the goon, yanking open the door to the storage room and pushing Jane in. Jane stumbled, but couldn't keep balanced, and he fell to the floor in a heap of pain.

"Ow..."

Before Jane could even think of pulling himself to his feet, the door had been slammed firmly behind him, leaving him in the dark once again. At this point, Jane couldn't really care less. God, that hurt…

"Patrick?"

"I'm okay," Jane replied hoarsely, trying not to cough in case he panicked the boy any more. He couldn't prevent a groan from escaping though. That goon had really do a number on his ribs…

"No, you're not," came the quiet reply.

"No, I'm not," Jane agreed, trying to pull himself over to the wall where Liam had been pretending to sleep.

"Did they hurt you?"

"A little," Jane replied as he pulled himself to sit next to the boy. He closed his eyes as he willed the dizziness in his head to calm long enough for him to get through what he needed to do next.

With a little more effort than it usually required, Jane turned his head and forced his eyes open so that he could see the kid. Liam was frowning at him, and Jane wondered if the boy was scared or just worried. Meh, he was too tired to work it out...

"This was your plan?" Liam asked, still frowning.

"Yep," Jane replied tiredly.

"It was stupid."

"Yep," Jane repeated with a nod and a small grin. Thankfully the dizziness was calming somewhat now, although his ribs were still aching fiercely.

Liam gave him a quick look, apparently taking in his haggard appearance. The frown remained. "Did it work?"

"Yep."

Turning his body slightly, Jane fished around in his trouser pocket until his fingers clasped tightly around his prize, his whole reason for the fight in the first place. With care, and no small amount of pride, Jane presented his 'winnings' to the kid, whose frown quickly turned into an excited smile.

It was a cell phone, pickpocketed from the goon during the fight.

Time to call in the cavalry.

* * *

**A/N - **So, how was it? The plot is definitely going to move more quickly now, and there's plenty more action to come, I can assure you of that. How do you think I'm doing with the action so far? Usually I'm much more comfortable writing dialogue than action, so I'd appreciate some feedback if you've got a spare moment. If not, thanks for all the positive responses I've had so far, and most of all, thanks for reading!


	8. Call For Help

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N- **Hello, my faithful readers! Sorry for the slight delay in the posting of this chapter - not only have I been on holiday for the past week, but I'm also currently on the hunt for a job. Anyhoo, hope you enjoy this newest instalment! Let me know what you think!

* * *

**~ Chapter Eight ~**

**Call For Help**

* * *

"Patrick. Patrick, you okay…?"

Jane sat up with a start, his head pounding loudly to the rhythm of his heartbeat. His chest ached painfully in his chest and for some reason his left shoulder felt like it was on fire. He groaned slightly as he tried to pull himself up, but his head swam dangerously at the movement and he quickly stopped. Damn, he must've fallen asleep...

"Liam?" Jane croaked, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Still in the damn storage closet then, Jane realised bitterly.

"Are you okay?" came the worried reply of the little boy. Jane released a breath of relief at hearing the child beside him. At least nothing had happened to the kid whilst he'd been unconscious.

"Sure, I'm fine," Jane replied, lying through his teeth as he tried to supress a grimace of pain. "How about you?"

"You fell asleep," Liam told him, ignoring the question completely.

Damn, Jane cursed silently, he'd probably terrified the boy. Jane didn't even remember falling unconscious. In fact, the last thing he remembered was unveiling the phone he had managed to pick-pocket from the goon after starting a fight with him.

A fight. Oh.

Well, that explained the pain then. Jane shifted slightly as he tried to get more comfortable, but before he could even shuffle an inch, his shoulder screamed loudly in protest and his ribs stung in pain so sharp that it brought tears to his eyes.

Damn, damn, damn…

"Patrick?"

"I'm fine," Jane replied quickly, trying to give Liam a reassuring smile. The boy seemed to relax slightly at the notion, and Jane released a subtle sigh of relief.

"Are you going to call for help now?" Liam asked quietly, hope brimming in his eyes.

"Yep," Jane replied, closing his eyes as he tried to remember Lisbon's number. God, his brain was fuzzy.

The phone must have fallen from his hand when he'd lost consciousness because he found it not to far from his right leg. Fishing it from the floor, Jane turned it on, a relieved sigh leaving his lips when the screen flashed brightly. Thank god…

"Okay," Jane muttered to himself as he prepared to type in the numbers. He stopped though, as a thought hit him, his brain working much more slowing than usual. He turned to the boy. "Liam?"

The boy's face darted up, his attention pulled from the screen of the phone. Jane sucked in a deep breath and willed himself to hold back the pain long enough to do what he needed to do to keep the child safe.

"I need you to be brave again, Liam," Jane began gently, thankful that his voice was strong. "Can you do that?"

Liam frowned at the request, but nodded after only a moment. "Okay, Patrick. What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to keep watch, okay?" Jane replied, nodding towards the bolted door. "Stand over by the door and keep your ears open for any noise. If you hear someone coming, I want you to run over here as fast as you can and pretend to be asleep again. Okay, Liam?"

"But what if they hurt you again?"

Jane shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"But…"

"It doesn't matter," Jane replied, his voice gentle but firm. "You'll be safe, and I'll be okay. I'm tougher than I look, I promise."

The boy didn't look particularly convinced by Jane's confidence but the moment of indecision was all Jane needed.

"Please, Liam?"

Liam sighed, but began to pull himself up regardless. "Okay, Patrick."

"Thank you kiddo."

Once the boy was over by the door, ready and willing to keep watch for any goons, Jane turned his attention back to the phone. Squinting in concentration, Jane began to type in the numbers he'd learned long ago by heart, hoping beyond all hope that his brain hadn't failed him this time.

With baited breath, he pulled the phone up to his ear.

"Please answer, Lisbon," Jane whispered, palms sweaty as he listened to the dialling tone. "Please…"

* * *

Lisbon ran a tired hand through her hair, sighing as she looked at the victim board in the empty bullpen. The rest of the team were still in the building of course, but Lisbon had sent them all to get food and some rest if they could find it. They'd refused to leave until Jane was safe, but they'd all been working for hours without a break, and Lisbon knew that if they kept going much longer without one, they wouldn't be much use to anyone, especially Jane.

Not that she felt that she was much use herself at the moment. Jane had been missing all day, a young boy too, and they were still no closer to finding out what the hell had happened to the two of them. Cho and Rigsby's interview with the boy's dad had turned up nothing of importance, and every other lead had hit a dead end.

Lisbon had hoped the parents of the boy could have shed some light on why he was taken with Jane, but the father had been in shock and even the step-mother had seemed too hysterical for words according to Cho. Maybe if they tried again tomorrow they'd have more luck with a list of possible suspects...

A ringing tone interrupted her thoughts. Her eyes still fixed on the picture of Jane tacked to the board, Lisbon pulled out her phone and pushed it to her ear.

"Yes?" she said sharply.

"_Lisbon? Lisbon, are you there?"_

For a moment, Lisbon thought she was imagining it. She stared at the picture of Jane, half-sure that her desperation to hear from him had made her hallucinate his voice.

_"Lisbon?"_

Oh, God. It had to be...

The voice coming from the phone was quiet and hoarse, but there was no doubt in her mind now who it was.

"Jane?" she asked, her heart clenching in equal parts hope and fear. She could hardly dare to believe it…

"_Lisbon,"_ Jane replied, his voice hoarse but his relief clear. _"Thank God."_

"Jane," Lisbon began, her brain desperately trying to catch up with what she was hearing. "You're okay!"

"_I suppose that depends on your definition of okay, but yes, for the most part at least, we're okay."_

"We?" she asked, still unable to believe that the man she had spent the entire day worrying about, was talking to her like nothing had happened. He was okay. And by the sounds of it, so was the boy.

"_Yes, we," _Jane replied hoarsely. "_Liam's here, safe and sound. He's scared, but I don't entirely blame him for that. Our hosts' welcome has left a lot to be desired."_

"But you're okay?"

"_Bloody and bruised, perhaps, but yes, I'm sure nothing life threatening yet," _she could almost hear the grin form on his face. "_Why, do you miss me already?"_

Lisbon didn't smile. Yes, she had missed him, though she would cut out her own tongue before she ever admitted that out loud to the man. He'd never let her live it down, and her errant consultant was annoying enough as it was.

"Where are you?" she asked instead. The fact that he was whispering told her that he was still in danger, and despite the joking words, she could hear the fear in his voice…

_"No idea,"_ Jane replied breezily, an affect ruined by his hoarse voice. _"I was unfortunately rather unconscious when we first arrived."_

"You haven't escaped yet then?" Lisbon couldn't help but ask.

_"I'm working on it, woman,"_ he retorted, and it raised a smile on Lisbon's face. _"Easier said than done when you're locked in a glorified closet. Anyway, I managed to sneak this phone, didn't I?"_

"Won't they notice?" Lisbon asked, worry filling her stomach.

_"They haven't so far,"_ Jane replied, and she could see him shrug in her mind's eye.

"Can you tell me anything?" she asked quickly. "Anything that will give us a clue where you are? Or who took you and why?"

_"Well, I'm pretty sure we're still in America…"_

"Jane," she warned.

_"Okay, okay."_ She heard him shuffle in the background, and a muffled curse followed the movement. Dammit, the man had lied.

_'Okay, my ass',_ she thought worriedly.

"Jane…"

He ignored her concern.

_"Erm…Well, we're in some sort of office building, I think."_ Jane paused as if considering something. _"Though it seems like we're the only ones here which seems a bit odd to me."_

Considering the fact that it was Wednesday, Lisbon thought it seemed a bit odd to her as well.

"Okay," she began, "So, you're being held in an empty office, somewhere in America. That really narrows it down, Jane. Thanks…"

_"No need to be snarky woman,"_ Jane replied. _"I've been a little preoccupied with staying alive."_

Immediately guilt rose up in her. God, she was tired. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Jane didn't reply though, and for several seconds, Lisbon held her breath and prayed that he was okay. She strained her ears, but all she could hear was more shuffling on the other end and immediately, dread filled her stomach. If something happened to him...

"Jane?" she whispered, almost holding her breath as she waited for a reply.

Had someone...?

_"Sorry,"_ he muttered suddenly. _"Thought I heard something."_

She released the breath she had been holding, her heart beating ten times its normal rate. God, the man was going to give her a heart attack…

_"Listen,"_ he said quickly, _"I don't think I have much time. Someone is bound to come soon."_

Lisbon nodded although of course Jane wouldn't be able to see that. "I'm listening."

_"Okay, so as I was saying, the office building we're in seems completely deserted but I have a hunch that it's only been recently closed. I suspect that it was shut down because of some sort of investigation into the boss' business dealings…"_

Lisbon pinched the bridge of her nose as she willed away the impending headache. "Jane, what are you talking about?"

_"Do you know about Liam?"_ he asked, and Lisbon wondered where he was going with this, especially since time was of the essence.

"Yes," she replied. "Although it took us longer than it should've to work it out…"

_"Well,"_ Jane continued, his voice tense. _"It seems Liam's dad is a judge and it just so happens that he is currently presiding over a very important case at the moment, though what it is, I don't have the faintest idea. Anyway, there are some very scary people here who would be very happy if the verdict was suddenly returned not-guilty. I'd guess that the defendant in that case has some sort of link to the building we're in."_

Realisation hit Lisbon. "So that was why the kid was taken. To threaten the judge. Get the verdict to go their way."

_"Yep,"_ Jane replied. _"Well done, Lisbon."_

She rolled her eyes. "You don't need to sound so surprised, Jane. I do investigate people for a living."

_"Of course you do."_

Her grip on the phone tightened. "Okay then, smartass. If that's why they took the kid, why did they take you?"

_"Ah, well it seems one of the goons recognised me."_

Her stomach clenched. "They know you're a cop?"

_"Cop-adjacent,"_ he corrected. _"And thankfully, no. Actually, for some reason, they seem to think I'm famous. Obviously I haven't disabused then of that notion. In fact, I've managed to convince them that not only am I incredibly famous and loaded, but that I would gladly pay a wealthy sum for my safe return home."_

"And they bought it?"

_"So far,"_ he replied tiredly. _"Listen, there's not much more I can tell you. Me and Liam are fine for now, but that's not going to last long. Reach out to the dad, try to work out who the defendant is and who would gain from him being found innocent. These goons are working for him, I'm sure of it."_

"And you?"

_"I wouldn't mind some back-up. A rescue of some sort maybe."_

"I'll see what I can do," Lisbon replied. "Although we'll need to find you first. I'll try and get a trace on the phone you're using, but that'll take time. How long can you keep it on without them knowing?"

She paused but Jane didn't reply, and Lisbon's heart seemed to stop as she waited, hoping and praying that everything was still okay...

_"Damn,"_ came his muffled curse. _"Someone's coming."_

"Jane?"

_"Lisbon,"_ he replied, sounding panicked. _"I'll leave the phone on. Try and trace it. We might get lucky."_

There was a rustling on the other end, followed by the bang of a door being slammed open. She strained her ears but she couldn't make much out.

"Jane?" she tried, her mouth suddenly dry.

No reply. He was gone, and all she could do now was listen as he tried to survive.

Well, listen and pray to God that he succeeded.

* * *

**A/N - **Hmm, I'm not sure about the ending to this, but seeing as it's 2 am here in England at the moment, I think I'll just leave it as it is for now. Hopefully it's okay though? Thanks for all the reviews that I've received so far. They are truly wonderful, and if you've got a minute, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. More importantly though, thanks for reading!


	9. A Break in the Case

**********Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N- **Hello my faithful readers! Sorry that its been so long since I last updated this story, but life has been busy and my mind has been otherwise engaged. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the wait, though just to warn you, there is some violence coming up, so if you don't like that sort of thing, you might not want to read on. For those of you who do want to continue...enjoy!

* * *

**~ Chapter Nine ~**

**A Break in the Case**

* * *

"Got it!" called Grace excitedly, pointing to her computer screen. Lisbon's eyes darted over to the younger woman and her heart began to beat very loudly in her chest, hope swelling inside her even as she tried to quell it. Dropping the case file she had been reading – another one of Jane's old ones – Lisbon immediately stalked over to her young agent, trying desperately to keep her face painfully free of the concern that was beginning to consume her.

Be strong, she told herself. Just for a little bit longer, just until he's back…

"You've found Jane?" Lisbon asked, barely daring to believe it. She leaned over Grace's desk to look at what the young woman had discovered, heart beating loudly in anticipation.

"Not exactly," Van Pelt replied with a frown, though her excitement was still clear as she pointed to a section highlighted on a map on her computer screen. "His phone signal wasn't very strong even before we lost it, so I couldn't pin it down to an exact location, but I did manage to narrow down our search."

"He's still in Sacramento," Lisbon breathed, squinting as she tried to make sense of the map. "Only an hour or so away."

"But he could still be anywhere in a 20 mile radius," Van Pelt pointed out hesitantly. "That's still a lot of ground to cover."

"But it's a place to start," Lisbon replied with a deep breath, trying to stay optimistic, even as her hope began to dwindle away. She shrugged away her pessimism, knowing that it wouldn't do anyone any good for her to start moping now.

"Boss?"

"Get into contact with Sac PD," Lisbon continued, thinking hard. "Ask them to start co-ordinating a search of any deserted or disused office buildings in that area. If Jane's right, he could be being held in one of them. Tell them to use caution though, and if they think they've found the place, I need to know immediately. They don't go in without my okay."

"Okay, boss," Van Pelt nodded, immediately picking up the phone.

Lisbon let a deep breath go, a small amount of relief entering her mind for the first time since Jane had been taken. As she walked back to her desk, leaving Van Pelt to concentrate on organising the search, and intent upon doing her own search on the computer system, Lisbon felt like she'd received her second wind. All previous exhaustion was pushed aside, adrenaline and hope replacing it. At last, they were getting somewhere…

She sat down at her desk, ready to get to work, but before she could even turn the computer on, her phone rang shrilly from her pocket. Without even glancing at the screen to see who it was, she picked it up straight away, part of her hoping desperately that Jane had somehow managed to find yet another phone. They had lost contact with Jane over twenty minutes ago, and nothing had been heard from him since. He had to be okay…

"Lisbon," she said, pushing away her doubts once again.

"_Boss," _replied Cho, and Lisbon felt her heart sink slightly, even though she had known all along that another call from Jane would have been a long shot.

"Cho," Lisbon replied, trying to inject some confidence into her voice to cover up her growing sense of desolation and fear. God, her feelings were all over the place at the moment. "What is it?"

She had sent her two male agent straight back to the Judge's residence after the phone call from Jane, along with strict orders to keep pressing the family – particularly the father of the kidnapped boy – until something useful came out of it. Somehow, this kidnapping was connected to that man, and Lisbon knew that they needed to find out how.

"_We've got something boss," _Cho answered. _"Judge Garrison, the kidnapped boy's dad, has been looking over his recent cases for us."_

"And?"

"_Big Tommo Keane," _Cho said bluntly.

A thrill of fear entered her heart. "The mob boss?"

"_Yeah," _Cho replied solemnly. _"FBI got him on fraud charges and he's being tried in Sacramento. Judge Garrison was given the case to preside over. Apparently, there have already been some accusations that Keane has been trying to intimidate the jury. If Jane is right that this kidnapping has something to do with one of the Judge's cases, this is our best bet."_

"Okay, Cho," Lisbon replied, "You and Rigsby head back here as soon as you can. I have a feeling we're going to need the extra man-power if we're going to take on the mob."

"_Okay, Boss,"_ came the reply, before her agent cut off.

Shoving the phone back into her pocket, Lisbon left her desk and marched straight back to Van Pelt's station.

"Grace," she began, once Van Pelt had finished her call. "Can you cross-reference our location with a list of properties linked to Tommo Keane."

"The mob boss?" Van Pelt asked, brow furrowed.

Lisbon nodded grimly. "Jane was convinced that Liam was taken in order to pressure his father into making a favourable ruling in one of his cases. This is the best fit."

"I'll do it now," Van Pelt nodded.

As she watched the young woman work her magic, hopefully bringing them a step closer to finding Jane, Lisbon took a deep, steadying breath. No matter how quickly the leads kept coming, however, Lisbon couldn't shake the feeling that they were quickly running out of time.

"Hang in there, Jane," she muttered to herself as Van Pelt entered the information into the computer search. "We're on our way. Just hang in there."

* * *

SMACK!

Jane's head snapped sideways, the force of the blow almost knocking the sense from his mind. He groaned, his vision swimming as he tried desperately to ignore the growing throb in his brain, a task that was becoming vastly harder with every punch that he endured. He shifted slightly to try and get more comfortable as the pain in his body and head ebbed to dangerous levels, but with his hands tied behind his back, and his feet fixed firmly to the wooden chair, he already knew he wouldn't be able to move far and he certainly knew that he couldn't give himself any relief from the pain.

Who knew getting beaten up would hurt so much…?

Jane felt the air leave his lungs as another fist pummelled into his chest. Pain exploded in his ribs and he found that he had to use every pain-tolerance technique he knew just to stay conscious. He gasped, the sharp white-hot pain rendering him momentarily stunned as he fought with everything he had just to stay in control of his own mind.

_Come on Lisbon_, he prayed silently, the force of his plea so strong that it almost hurt his head even more than the fists already had. He shook his head slightly, almost trying to shake some sense back into himself, though his efforts were quickly rendered futile when another fist connected with his chin. The pain hit him sharply once again, and Jane clenched his eyes tightly shut as he rode it out.

"Bastards…" he muttered defiantly, though his resolve was becoming weaker and weaker with every blow.

The goons merely responded with laughter, more mocking and another punch, this time hard in the stomach.

His curse was muffled but it hardly mattered anymore. Awareness was quickly leaving him and truthfully his thoughts were barely there anymore; all he could feel was pain, mingling reality with the stuff of nightmares. Jane groaned again as the torture continued, pain overriding everything, even his sense of self. Nothing mattered anymore…

"Stop."

The pounding stopped at once, but the pain left behind was enough for Jane to wish for unconsciousness. Before he could even begin to appreciate the brief relief though, a hand gripped his sweat-soaked hair, pulling his weak head forcibly up to meet the gaze of his captor.

"Please," Jane begged, his voice a mere whisper. "Please, stop."

"We have stopped," sneered Venom, earning sickening laughter from his cohorts. "I'm not sure you've quite learned your lesson yet, though."

"I…have," Jane mumbled, his eyes dropping closed against his will. With a start, he forced them open. As much as it hurt to be conscious, he knew he had to stay awake. Why, though...?

Liam, Jane reminded himself. He had to stay awake for Liam.

That one thought had somehow managed to make it through the painful chaos of his mind, and he clung to it with all the strength he had left. He needed to protect Liam.

The kid, thankfully, was still locked away in their little closet, far enough away from this dreadful office to be completely unaware of the torture going on inside, but Jane knew that it was only a matter of time before _both_ of their lives were forfeit.

There was no way either of them were getting out alive without some sort of miracle - at the back of his mind, Jane knew that - but he'd be damned if he was going to let them kill Liam without a fight…

"Have you really learnt your lesson, Mr Ruskin?"

His throbbing brain took a moment to work out why he was being called that, before it thankfully caught up.

"Yes, I have," Jane replied hoarsely. "I…I won't try to escape again."

"No, you won't."

Venom nodded to one of his lesser associates, gesturing towards the bruised and bloody body of their victim. Jane felt a thrill of fear run through his heart, almost stopping the breath in his lungs.

No more, he thought desperately, his throat too dry to voice his concerns out loud. It was too much. He couldn't take any more pain…

"Please," he whispered, his energy focused almost exclusively on staying conscious at this point.

The ordered goon didn't answer, and as he approached, Jane braced himself for another punch, eyes closed and hands clenched as he prepared for the pain he knew was coming. Seconds passed, but rather than the expected impact, instead Jane felt hands begin to tug at the binding on his hands and feet.

Sensing an opportunity, Jane began to struggle against the goon, using every trick he knew to focus the pain away from his mind. He was too weak though; too little water and food, and the recent beating had made him no threat to the men holding him.

Free - though completely unable to fight - the goon dragged Jane up from the chair with very little resistance and started to pull him towards the door. Jane's heart beat increased to near in-human levels at the sudden movement, sure in the back of his exhausted mind that the goon was leading him to his death. He knew he should fight harder, fight for his life, but his limbs were simply too weak and limp to do anything about it. He just couldn't...

Unconsciousness crept up on him as quickly as a predator lashing out at its prey, and blackness edged onto his vision. Pain ran rampant through his body as he was finally jostled forcibly out of the office, and as the darkness began to swim dangerously in front of him, Jane's last thought was centred on Liam - yet another child that he had failed to save...

Seconds later, Jane closed his eyes, and knew no more.

* * *

**A/N - **Okay, so what did you think? Again, I'm not entirely sure about the ending, but I'll leave it as it is for now. Please, let me know what you think. Your reviews are so encouraging, and since I really want to get this story finished before the new season starts, every little helps, trust me. For now though, thanks for reading!


	10. Knights in Shining Armour

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Hello one and all! Yes, believe it or not, it is another chapter! I'm not usually this quick to update (quite the opposite really) but your reviews after the last chapter were so kind and uplifting that it inspired me to write this, and with very little cajoling needed on my part as well. I won't say much more since I left the last chapter on a bit of a cliff-hanger, but just know that I really appreciate all your support and I hope that you like this newest instalment!

* * *

**~ Chapter Ten ~**

**Knights in Shining Armour**

* * *

All Jane knew was pain. Mind-numbing pain, the kind that was hot and cold, stinging and achy all at once. It was the kind of pain that made it difficult to think about anything else, to even comprehend life free from it. It covered his whole body, sinking deep into bones and his mind, making him lose something, some small part of himself in the process.

Reality mixed with dreams, pain with numbness. Vaguely he got the impression that he was lying down, but he couldn't confirm even that, so stressed was his body. He groaned, somewhere between consciousness and black oblivion, memories flashing through his mind with alarming speed, though they were interspersed with snapshots of what Jane suspected was reality. Everything looked blurry, out of focus and unnaturally bright, and yet Jane was equally certain that his eyes were closed.

God, he hurt...

He floated through his mind, his body unmoving and useless, no more in control of his journey than he had been during the kidnapping. That thought brought more flashes of pain, some dizziness, as well as the urge to throw up, so Jane shoved the thought as far away from his memory palace as he could.

Dammit, he _really _hurt…

He couldn't ever remember feeling in this much pain. There was no part of him untouched, no part of him that didn't feel like ten thousand knives were jabbing through his skin. He heard himself groan again, but the noise sounded far off, as if it hadn't even been him at all, and his heartbeat, his pulse, thudded loudly in his ears, almost like a ticking clock, counting down the seconds until his life ran out. He groaned once more.

At least he thought it was him groaning. Maybe someone else was hurt, Jane considered tiredly, though he couldn't even imagine anyone feeling any worse than he did at the moment. Pain flushed through him once again, making him sick to the stomach and he groaned again.

Oh, that had definitely been him. Even his heartbeat hadn't been able to drown out that pathetic sound. Damn.

Heat flushed through him unexpectedly, and Jane panicked slightly, half-expecting his heart to give out, or his lungs to stop breathing in air. Each breath stung as if his lungs were on fire, but they were keeping him on this earth. Pain was...well, painful, but at least it was a reminder that he was alive. He clung to that thought, at least until the pain in his head flared up again. Then he went back to wishing someone would just put him out of his misery.

Oh, this was not good, Jane thought, grasping on to that one erratic thought with everything he had. Lisbon would kill him if he died.

That thought led him back to the hope that he was still clinging to with every ounce of strength he still had. Lisbon _was_ coming. He'd called her, she'd answered, and Jane knew she would come. Even if it was too late for him, even if he didn't quite survive long enough for her to rescue him this time, Jane _knew _that not only would she seek justice for him, but she would make sure that not a hair would be harmed on Liam's head.

God, Liam...

Guilt tore at his chest, momentarily overtaking the very real pain that he could still feel there. He should have protected Liam better. Now the kid was on his own, with no one to save him. If Lisbon somehow didn't get here in time…

Jane pushed that thought away as well

His despair and fear was a little harder to get rid of, however. The truth was, his greatest weapon – his unbreakable fortress of a mind – had been nullified and beaten into submission. He was vulnerable now, not just to further physical pain – although that seemed to have stopped for the moment, he realised – but to the nightmares that he was usually able to hide. They crept up on him now, taunting him and haunting him with every mistake he had ever made, every life he had ever screwed up, including his own. Faces flashed before him in his increasing delirium, memories better left forgotten that were now shoving their way to the front of his mind. Pain ravaged his body but the ache in his heart and mind rivalled anything he had ever felt in his physical being.

Whether it was the drugs, the beating, the no doubt serious head injury…Jane couldn't be sure. All he knew was that he no longer the person he had been. No longer confident, arrogant, sure of himself. Now he was just tired, somewhere between life and death, hoping for nothing more than for peace, and knowing more than anything that he didn't deserve it.

* * *

She took a deep steadying breath.

This was it, Lisbon said to herself as she watched the men and women sat around her in the back of the van, observing silently as they checked their weapons and donned their bullet-proof vests.

The moment of truth was here. They had a probable location, they had their likely suspects, and they had the necessary back-up to deal with them. Once the raid began, there was no going back. Lisbon knew that she needed to accept that now, before they got to the abandoned office building they had uncovered, before they found out whether they had acted swiftly enough, or whether they had been too late.

They would either find Jane or they wouldn't, and Lisbon realised, in a way that she had never considered before, how much of her life from this point on _depended _on the outcome. Jane had been annoying and troublesome from the moment she had first seen his handsome face and his tortured eyes, and yet somehow, at some point, he had wormed his way into her heart. She wasn't even sure if it had been intentional on his part, but her life depended on his now; not in a physical sense, for she would still go on living if he died, but in a somewhat more spiritual sense. She simply could not imagine a world without him in it.

When had that happened? She wondered about that as she checked and rechecked her own gun, keeping her hands busy so that no one would see how much they were shaking. She frowned. When had Jane become that important to her?

When he had saved her life, perhaps, shooting down a Red John accomplice, sacrificing that life – a life that could have helped him immeasurably in his quest for revenge – in exchange for hers?

Or had it been during one of the occasions she had saved _his_ life? That had been a more frequent occurrence over their strange partnership, and yet never had she felt beleaguered by that, never had she felt that it was anything less than the most important thing to do. She didn't resent him for putting himself in danger, for risking his life; no, she felt _linked _to him, as if it made them even closer. Somehow, it meant that she would always save him, that she would always be there _to _save him.

She frowned as the van began to slow down, clearly nearing its destination.

Or had it been when he had said those fateful words. Love you. Said with honesty and regret and such feeling that she had almost stopped breathing as a result. He had denied it later, but she knew, deep down in her heart, that he had meant it, that he _still _meant it. And what's more, it had only made her realise how deeply she returned those feelings. Her confusion over it all had long since stopped her from acting upon it, but she could no sooner deny it than she could stop breathing.

Lisbon shook her head forcibly, almost as if she was trying to shake away the very feelings that she could no longer deny. No matter when those feelings had sprung up on her, they were there now, and Jane, with all his schemes, lies and manipulation, _was_ important, and she would do anything to get him back.

She clenched her fist tightly around her gun and glanced around at the other men and women who were sharing the back of the van, pushing her desperation and apprehension as far to the back of her mind as it was possible to go. She knew, with instincts that had been long honed on the job, that concentration had never been as important as it was now. This was a risk – one that everyone here was willing to take, for sure – but a risk none the less, and any number of things could _still _go wrong. They could have the wrong office building after all. There might be more 'goons' - as Jane had called them - than they were prepared for. Jane and Liam might already be dead...

She watched the agents in the back of the van with her, taking in their steel gazes and determination, the sight lightening her heart slightly despite the apprehension that was threatening to overwhelm her. Oh, these people were well aware of the dangers, and, like her, were quite prepared to take the risk. No matter what happened during the raid; whether they found Jane or not, whether they had made it in time or not, these people would give everything they had to the job. No one, least of all her, could ask for more.

'We're coming Jane,' she thought, eyes gleaming with her own determination. 'We're coming.'

* * *

They went in hard and fast, guns blazing and adrenaline pumping, no further doubts in their minds.

Their brief surveillance on the building had confirmed it. This was the place.

Lisbon followed Cho, gun raised steadily, her heart beating forcibly in her chest as adrenaline coursed through her. The teams split up, searching for the culprits, searching for Jane and Liam, hoping to find them alive. Lisbon stayed with Cho, following him up a flight of stairs into an empty corridor, eyes focused on her surroundings as they made their way down it.

When they turned the next corner, a large man jumped in front of them as if from nowhere, gun raised and face mirroring their own steely determination. Without pausing to think, Lisbon shot, the bullet hitting right between the eyes. Cho's own bullet had caught the unknown assailant right in the forehead.

They looked at each other, a unspoken moment passing between them, then they moved on.

They continued to search, Lisbon all the while praying that when they turned the next corner, or opened the next door, they would be greeted with Jane's silly grin and dishevelled blond hair. So far though, nothing. Her heart ached with every second that they searched without finding any sign of him. Maybe he hadn't been here after all...

Lisbon's radio crackled. It was Rigsby.

_"Boss, we've got the boy. He seems fine. No sign of Jane though."_

"Keep looking," she replied, her own eyes scanning every inch of the corridor as if it would give her the answer she was searching for.

Where the hell are you, Jane?

"Boss," Cho began, interrupting her thoughts as he stopped dead in front of her. "Can you hear that?"

She strained her ears desperately, hope pumping through her. Then she heard it, a faint groaning noise coming from what looked like a storage cupboard beside them. Jane...

She tried to handle, but found it locked. Without pausing to even consider a better solution, Lisbon took a step back, before ramming her entire weight against the door, channelling every second of worry she had felt over the last couple of days, every desperate moment and flash of anger.

The door snapped open, and Lisbon fell through, Cho following close behind with his gun raised.

"Jane!" Lisbon cried, striding over to her blond consultant without a thought to her own safety. All she could concentrate on was the man lying on the floor, bloodied, bruised, and not moving.

Was he…?

Without wasting another second, she dropped to her knees beside his broken body and thrust her hand forward, feeling his neck for a pulse, all the time praying that they were not too late. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears, so much so that she could barely hear anything else, and it was only when she concentrated harder that she began to feel his pulse too. His was thready, weak, but it was _there. _Then Jane groaned, and she almost collapsed in relief, sagging slightly to the floor as he began to shift slightly beside her. Only her stoic professionalism kept her mostly upright.

"How is he?" asked Cho as he moved closer, gun still raised protectively.

"Alive," Lisbon breathed, her hand shaking so badly that she had to clench it to stop it from showing. She tried to get a hold of herself, though it turned out to be easier said than done. "Cho, call an ambulance, get someone here quick."

Cho immediately got on the radio, and Lisbon was glad he'd been there as back-up because there was just no way in hell she was leaving her consultant's side, not now that they had found him alive. She turned back to him and brushed a hair from his forehead, but he groaned again and it made her still her movements immediately.

God, he was hurt, Lisbon thought numbly as if only just realising it for the first time. And badly...

Shaking herself slightly, Lisbon began to check his body for any serious injuries, relief slowly giving way to worry once again as she realised just how serious his condition was. Her eyes travelled from the top of his head, right down to his feet – still glad in his old brown shoes – cataloguing everything from the bruises and blood on his face, to the incredibly swollen shoulder.

"Oh, Jane…" she mumbled to herself. Thankfully, nothing seemed immediately life-threatening, although had they waited much longer, it might have become more serious. As it was, it looked like they had got to him just in time...

"Lis...bon."

Startled, Lisbon's eye's shot down to her consultant, only to find that his own eyes were open; glazed over slightly, and squinting in confusion, but definitely, miraculously open.

"Jane?" Lisbon breathed.

"Lisbon?" Jane mumbled, his eyes shutting once again, as if they had been just too heavy to keep open. "That...you?"

"Yeah, its me, Jane," she replied shakily.

"Hurts," he muttered, a grimace crossing his bloody and bruised face.

"I know, Jane," Lisbon replied softly, taking one of his hands in hers, gripping it lightly. "You're going to be okay. Help is on the way, Jane. You're going to be fine. We'll get you fixed up in no time."

"Not...hospital," he mumbled, groaning slightly once again. Lisbon felt tears come to her eyes. "Hate...hospitals."

"Sorry, Jane," Lisbon replied shakily. "The hospital is non-negotiable this time."

"Damn." A small smile crossed his face, and despite his condition, despite the pain she knew he was clearly still feeling, Lisbon felt herself return it.

"Lisbon...?" he mumbled quietly, and she moved her head closer to his so that she could hear him. He opened his eyes once again, though he didn't seem to be able to open them all the way.

Lisbon swallowed deeply. "Yeah, Jane?"

"You…saved me…again," he mumbled, eyes still closed. "Thanks. Sorry…so useless…"

"You weren't useless Jane," Lisbon said softly, cradling his head as her eyes met Cho's, imploring him to speed up the ambulance that was on its way. "We're here because you led us here."

But Jane didn't seem to be able to hear her anymore, his eyes glazing over once more as the pain seemed to take over him.

"Lisbon," Jane whispered, voice hoarse and weak.

"Yeah, Jane?" she asked.

"Love you," he muttered, and then he closed his eyes and said no more.

* * *

**A/N –** So, how was it? I must say, I really enjoyed writing this, especially this ending. I realise that there are quite a lot of loose ends to tie up, and I promise that answers will come in the next few chapters, but for now, I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!


	11. The Hospital

******Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N-** Hello one and all! Just a quick chapter tonight - I'm exhausted and it's late where I live, so please excuse me if it's not up to my usual standards. It's only a filler chapter really...the explanations will come later on, as well as the difficult conversations and the conclusion of the case. For now, I hope you enjoy this little Jane/Lisbon friendship interlude!

* * *

**~ Chapter Eleven ~**

**The Hospital**

* * *

It was the beeping that first made its way into his tired mind. The monotonous, ridiculous, irritating beeping that sank into his thoughts and dragged him from blissful oblivion.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

What was that? His thoughts felt like mud; sticky, heavy and difficult to move through. In fact, he could barely seem to form a coherent thought that wasn't confused or erratic or just downright _tired_.

_Beep…beep…beep…._

With a concerted effort that sapped some of his precious energy, Jane tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt far too heavy to lift, and he gave up after a few failed tries. He could feel his heartbeat increasing, partly in panic and partly in desperation and confusion, but he couldn't seem to calm down. His brain was working too slowly, too sluggishly, as if it was still trying to catch up to the situation.

_Beep…beep…beep…._

God, what the hell was that infernal beeping…?

_Beep...beep..._

"Jane…you…awake…?"

The voice broke though the repetitive pattern of beeps - a pattern that, up until now, had filled his thoughts - filtering into Jane's mind like a ghost though a wall. He tried to place it, but his mind was nowhere near its usual brilliance, and his thoughts were exhausted and useless.

"Jane…?"

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Who was that? The question floated to the front of his mind, and when it got there it refused to budge. Who was talking to him? What were they trying to say? It seemed important, but for the life of him, he couldn't work out what it was...

It wasn't Angela speaking, that much he knew for sure. Angela was dead, and no amount of exhaustion or sluggishness was going to make him forget that fact.

It was definitely female though, Jane decided, pushing away the grief he felt at the mere thought of his wife, his heartbeat quickening once more as he fought against the fog in his mind.

"Jane…if you're awake…open your…eyes…"

He definitely recognised that voice! He couldn't place it at the moment, but he _knew _them, Jane realised. They were friendly, they weren't going to hurt him - he couldn't explain how he knew that since he didn't even know who they were, but he couldn't deny it. It would be safe to do as they said, he just knew it. He could open his eyes…

With a strain, Jane tried to push his eyes open again, but the effort tore the energy straight from his mind, and left desperation in its place.

"Please…Jane…open your eyes…"

_I'm trying_, Jane told the voice irritably, although in the back of his mind, Jane realised that they wouldn't be able to hear him.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

He tried to take a deep breath, but the movement must have knocked something in his chest because the next thing he knew there was a shooting pain running through his entire body.

God, that hurt…

_Beep…beep…beep…_

"Open…eyes…"

With one last effort, drawing on every energy reserve he had, drawing on the pain that was still throbbing in his chest, Jane focused on his eyes, pushing them with everything he had.

"That's it Jane," the voice praised, and if he wasn't already so focused on his task, he would have smiled. As it was, it was taking all he had just to get his eyes to open.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

After one final push of effort, finally his eyes opened, though the bright light filtered in so quickly that he was forced to blink rapidly to avoid being permanently blinded.

Ow…

Jane blinked again, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. All he could make out was white – wherever he was, he concluded tiredly, it was very, very white…

"Jane…"

He brought his tired gaze over to the voice, only to meet green eyes tinged with concern and relief. He recognised those eyes too, he was sure of it. If only his mind would catch up with him…

"Jane?"

Finally, the initial brightness began to dim as his eyes adjusted to the new scenery. He frowned slightly as he tried to make sense of it, his mind still made up of fogginess and mud. Eventually, with no small amount of effort, his jumbled thoughts began to register what he was seeing, though truthfully, he thought to himself, he should have known all along...

"Lis…bon?" he managed to say, though his throat felt like sandpaper and it burned with the effort.

"God, you're alright!" Lisbon replied, sounding as if she was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Jane's frown deepened.

"Not God," Jane replied, a small smile finally making its way onto his face as he met the gaze of his long-suffering friend. "Name's…Patrick."

"Ass," she shot back, but her returning smile - though still tinged with ladles of concern - showed that she was far too relieved to be annoyed with him. That probably should have concerned him, but as it was, he was far too tired and numb to care. Probably the drugs…

"Hospital?" he rasped, his mind finally working out where he was.

"Yeah, Jane," Lisbon replied, the smile dropping from her face. "You took a hell of a beating. Do you remember what happened?"

Remember what? Jane thought, though he didn't voice that aloud. Instead, he tried to focus his mind, hoping that his thoughts would sort themselves out. Try as he might, however, all he could make out were flashes of events that made no sense to him. A boy…some men…fists…

He groaned, some of the pain making itself known again. 'A hell of a beating' was starting to feel like an understatement, and the numbness he had been fighting against was honestly starting to sound like heaven.

_Beep...beep...beep..._

"Jane," Lisbon began, and Jane forced his attention back to her, though it was getting harder and harder to concentrate as the fog began to rise up again. "Do you want anything? Water maybe?"

He blinked again, but didn't try to speak again. Instead he just nodded tiredly, already feeling his energy falling away from him. He wanted to stay awake, but he wasn't sure it was a battle he was going to win this time…

He heard movement to his right - it was probably Lisbon just going to get him a drink - but he didn't even try and move his head to follow the sound. The pain from his beating was starting to make itself known again, and the drugs - whatever the hell they had him on – weren't doing much to help anymore.

Ow…

"Here Jane," Lisbon said as she returned with a small plastic cup. She held it to his mouth, but since he was still lying down on the bed, it was impossible for him to take the large gulp he wanted to. Instead he was forced to take little sips, and though he desperately craved more, truthfully each drop tasted like heaven.

His dry throat eased somewhat, Jane let his gaze fall back onto Lisbon, her pale face a stark contrast to her dark hair. She looked tired, he noted. And worried.

"You…okay?" he asked, brow furrowed.

She seemed surprised at his question. "You're asking me if _I'm _okay? God, Jane, you nearly died!"

Well, that explained quite a bit, although he still had a few questions pounding at his tired mind. He frowned again, then steeled himself to speak again.

"What…happened?" Jane rasped.

"You don't remember?" she asked with her own frown clear on her face and Jane shook his head.

"Bit fuzzy," he replied hoarsely. "It's…the drugs. Hate…hospitals…"

He could feel his energy leaving him more rapidly now, and his eyelids were beginning to feel heavier by the second. He knew he didn't have long before he lost his battle with the drugs, but he clung to consciousness with everything he had left.

"Lisbon...m'glad you're here," he whispered, pain flaring up in his chest again. "Stay?"

God how he wished he felt numb again now. The pain levels were rising now, and it was all he could do not to cry out in pain. Too tired to even fight it anymore, Jane allowed his eyes to fall closed again, darkness already creeping at the edges of his vision.

"I'll be right here, Jane," Lisbon replied, though her voice seemed very far away to him now. "You're going to be alright…I'm right…here…"

_Beep...beep...beep._

The darkness came upon him then, and he fell, down, down, until he knew no more.

* * *

**A/N-** So what did you think? I really love writing Jane and Lisbon's interactions since they have such an interesting relationship. However, having said that, I find myself a little undecided how to carry this on. On the one hand, I could explore it in more detail, perhaps on a more romantic level. On the other hands, I could just wrap up this story in a couple more chapters and leave them as very close friends (as they are in the show).

I'm not a huge fan of romance stories in general, but their relationship has so many facets to it that I can't imagine that writing them is anything but wonderful fun - though truth be told, I'm not sure I'd really be any good at it. Either way, let me know what you'd like to see and I'll do my best to bow down to your collective will. For now, I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!


	12. Doctor's Orders

**********Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N -** Hello my faithful and wonderful readers! Just to let you know, this chapter was written to the music of Imagine Dragons, Mumford and Sons and David Bowie, which might account for any choppiness which may or may not be there. I really did try hard to keep Lisbon and Jane in character, but I've read this through a couple of times now, and I'm still not entirely sure if it flows very well. It was a lot of fun to write though, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

* * *

**~ Chapter Twelve ~**

**Doctor's Orders**

* * *

As she walked down the hospital corridor, busy with people all trying to make the best of the visiting hours, Lisbon thought back to the last day or so. It felt like she'd barely had time to take a breath, and truthfully, exhaustion was beginning to wear down on her.

As soon as they'd found Jane and Liam alive in that abandoned office building, they'd rushed both of them to the hospital. Rigsby had been right – Liam _had_ been okay – but he'd been held overnight just as a precaution. Jane on the other hand…

Her consultant had broken two ribs, cracked another, dislocated his shoulder, and had suffered what seemed like hundreds of cuts and bruises all over his body. The most worrying part for the medical team, however, had been his concussion which had had the doctors very concerned over whether Jane would even wake up at all…

Lisbon took a deep breath as she rounded the corner to Jane's room. Thankfully, she reminded herself, Jane seemed to have made it through the danger period and she'd experienced first-hand last night, when she'd visited Jane for the first time after his rescue, that he was still well in control of his very extensive mental abilities.

Briefly, she wondered if he remembered those two words he'd said to her just after he'd passed out, before the ambulance had even arrived. Love you. Part of her hoped that he had, but the much more sensible, rational, and terrified part of her hoped that particular phrase had been wiped from his mind altogether.

She hadn't had chance to ask him about it yesterday, mainly because he'd seemed too out of it and in far too much pain. And today, though she'd been told by the doctors that Jane was feeling better and that he was well on the mend, Lisbon hadn't so far had the free time to visit him to see it for herself. She'd been too busy working with the team to make sure they had enough evidence not only to get the goons who'd kidnapped Jane, but also the man who'd ordered it.

As she made her way slowly over to the room where Jane had been placed yesterday, Lisbon felt the full weight of everything that had happened over the last few days, everything since that dreaded phone call from Jane. It was only her mind, forcing her thoughts on the fact that both Jane and the kid were fine and relatively healthy, that kept her sane.

"Mr Jane! Will you stop that!?"

"Only if you stop _that!"_

The voices interrupted her thoughts causing her heart to sink down to her stomach. What now…?

"Stop it!"

"You stop it, you madwoman!"

Lisbon quickened her pace, stopping only when she was right outside Jane's room. With a deep breath she swung open the door, and was greeted with a sight that would have made her laugh had she not been so worried.

Jane was lying in his bed, bandages, sling and all, apparently fighting over an IV that the nurse, red-faced and clearly fuming, was trying to fix back into his arm.

"Jane…?"

Jane's head snapped towards her. "Lisbon! Just the woman I've been waiting for!" He glared at the nurse, then turned to frown at Lisbon. "They won't give me back my shoes."

"Your shoes?" she repeated dumbly, glancing down at his hospital gown clad body. The nurse took the distraction of her arrival to yank the IV lead from Jane's hand and finally fix it properly.

"Yes, my shoes," Jane confirmed seriously, ignoring the nurse's ministrations for the moment. "Come on, Lisbon. Keep up."

She ignored that. "Jane, why the hell do you want your shoes? You're not even wearing pants."

The nurse scoffed, placing the IV back on the line and making her way past Lisbon towards the door.

"Don't ask me," muttered the nurse as she left, barely giving Lisbon a glance and ignoring Jane altogether. Lisbon turned questioningly towards Jane but he just plastered a smile on his face, and she shook her suspicion away. The nurse was probably just having a bad day, she reasoned. Probably.

Doing her best to ignore the strange encounter, Lisbon closed the door behind the nurse as she turned back to Jane with her arms folded. "So?"

"My feet are cold?" he tried, but she wasn't fooled in the least. God, the man was ridiculous. Bruised, battered, no doubt traumatised from the kidnapping, and yet still completely ridiculous.

"You want to escape, don't you," accused Lisbon, and his far-too-innocent smile told her everything she needed to know. "Dammit, Jane."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jane said with a smirk that made her want to punch him right in the nose. "And just for the record, I am perfectly capable of escaping without my shoes."

"Try it, and I'll make sure you never see your precious shoes again," Lisbon warned, enjoying the look of surprise and irritation on his face. It was a rare event that she got one over on him.

Surprisingly, Jane didn't seem much in the mood for a verbal fight, and Lisbon felt a twinge of guilt as she took a closer look at his condition. Though he was all smiles on the outside, Lisbon could see the lines of pain cling slightly to his eyes, and he looked even more exhausted than usual.

"Well, clearly I've met my match," Jane sighed dramatically, breaking Lisbon from her thoughts. "Any idea how much longer I'm going to be stuck here for?"

"They haven't told you?" Lisbon asked, surprised. Surely someone would have let him know what was going on…

The sheepish, almost guilty, expression on Jane's face though – something that would usually be undetectable - immediately sent her suspicious mind running. What the hell had he got himself into now…?

The smile dropped from Jane's face. "Don't be mad -".

"Dammit, Jane," she cursed, stilling the excuses in his throat. God, why couldn't he just behave for once in his life?

"It's not my fault," he continued, but Lisbon ignored him.

"That nurse was angry with you," Lisbon realised, finally making sense of the odd behaviour she'd noticed on her way in.

The blank expression on Jane's face certainly didn't bode well for her stress levels, and she half-considered leaving there and then and letting him deal with it himself. In fact, the only reason she didn't do that was the fact that, despite the smiles and jokes, he was clearly miserable and in pain.

Lisbon groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose to push away her impending headache. "God, what did you do?

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Jane replied smoothly, a small frown on his face as he observed her closely. She didn't believe it for a second.

"Dammit, Jane," Lisbon cursed.

"Lisbon – "

"No, Jane," she interrupted irritably. God, this was just what she needed. "Tell me, now. What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Jane assured her. He dropped his gaze. "Well, I didn't do anything bad."

"Jane…"

"Well, I didn't do anything _that _bad."

"Dammit," Lisbon cursed again. "You're an idiot, Jane."

He pouted pathetically, almost making the bruises on his face stand out more, but she was too annoyed with him at the moment to care.

"I thought I was the hero?" he asked with a frown.

"Not anymore," Lisbon told him irritably. "Before, you saved a child. Now, you're just acting like one."

Jane looked faintly hurt by that, but Lisbon refused to be swayed by it. He always did this, she argued to herself. He was a terrible patient, and every time he had ended up in hospital, Jane had done _something_ to cause trouble. Just because it had taken him a bit longer than usual this time, didn't mean that she hadn't been expecting it.

"You don't even know what I did," he pointed out.

"Did you hypnotise one of them?" Lisbon guessed, not really giving him any time to explain himself. "Or mess around with their patients? Or maybe you just escaped without a trace, leaving them to scour the entire hospital looking for you?"

She looked at his expectantly, but he simply closed his mouth stubbornly and turned away slightly.

"I don't want to tell you now," Jane replied, raising his chin. "You're being grouchy."

"I am not, Jane," Lisbon retorted, only belatedly realising that she was just proving his point with her reaction.

With that in mind, she made an extra effort to calm down, though the smirk that was growing on his face, quickly replacing the frown, was doing nothing to help her temper.

"Anyway," Lisbon began, before Jane could say anything, "Even if I am being grouchy, it's only because you're acting like a complete child. You've only been stuck in the hospital for a day, and already the nurses hate you."

"Come on now, Lisbon," Jane argued. "That's not entirely fair. I was perfectly well behaved yesterday."

"You were drugged up yesterday, Jane," Lisbon told him. "With the concussion and all the pain meds they had you on, you didn't even know which way was up."

"I still could have easily caused trouble if I'd wanted to," Jane argued petulantly. "I _chose _to be good instead, and this is the thanks I get…"

"Sheep dip," Lisbon replied. "Just cut the crap, Jane."

"Fine, but I stand by what I said," Jane answered, raising his chin again. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Lisbon saw the sincerity in his eyes then, and in that moment decided that she would at least hear him out. Giving him one last glare to make sure he'd understood her point, Lisbon took a seat in one of the typically uncomfortable chairs provided by the hospital.

"I'll be the judge of that," Lisbon said, leaning back on her chair as she crossed her arms, determined not to take any of his bullshit.

"Well," Jane began cautiously, his smile dropping slightly, but not completely, "I _might_ have given a couple of nurses the slip yesterday, but I assure you, Lisbon my dear, it was all in the name of a good cause."

"You went to visit Liam," Lisbon said bluntly, and was again pleased to note a hint of surprise in his expression. It might have been his condition, but he seemed easier to read than usual. That, and it was precisely what she would have done in his position.

"Well, not…entirely," Jane replied slowly.

"Come on, Jane," Lisbon sighed. "Out with it."

"I threw him a party," Jane answered, his chin raised defiantly once again.

"You threw him a party," Lisbon repeated disbelievingly, not sure whether she should laugh or yell. At the moment, she was definitely leaning towards the latter.

"Yes," came Jane's serious reply.

"In his room?"

"Yes," Jane replied, as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with his answer. "The Doctors say he's not allowed to leave yet."

"God, Jane," Lisbon groaned, rubbing a hand over her tired face. "Why? Did you at least ask the father's permission first?"

"That old goat?" Jane scoffed. "You know, he actually had the nerve to tell me to stay away from Liam. He said, and I quote, 'I don't want him to be reminded of such a traumatic event'. What a ridiculous man. As if the kid could forget."

Lisbon thought Jane might have a point there but she refused to tell him so. "Even if that is true, did you have to throw him a _party_?"

"Yes," Jane replied simply. "He was sad. Upset. Unhappy. I wanted to cheer him up. It worked like a charm too."

Lisbon frowned. It sounded exactly like something he would do. She had absolutely no trouble believing it, and yet she still couldn't quite shake the thought that he wasn't quite telling her everything. He was still hiding something...

"If you did him good," questioned Lisbon, determined to get to the bottom of it, "Why was that nurse so angry with you? Surely she could understand..."

"Well," Jane replied cautiously, "I had to make it a proper party, you see."

Lisbon frowned, still not seeing where he was going with this. What on Earth had he done…?

Apparently Jane sensed her confusion however, because he immediately continued, though the cautious look in his eyes didn't help her growing annoyance with him. She knew he'd been hiding something. Damn that man.

"Anyway," Jane continued tentatively. "I…ah…I invited a few people."

"Jane," Lisbon began dangerously, finally starting to see where he was going. "Who did you invite?"

"The paediatrics ward," Jane said, tensing as if he half-expected her to punch him. An action she actually was considering despite his recent situation…

She settled for a glare instead. "The _entire _paediatrics ward?"

"Yep," Jane replied unrepentantly, an irritating smile returning to his face once it was clear that she was refraining herself from actual physical violence. "Some of the nurses seemed a bit put out when all the children vanished from their beds, but it was all a bit of an overreaction if you ask me."

"You're an idiot, Jane," Lisbon told him, but Jane just shrugged in reply.

"It was worth it," Jane sighed wistfully. "It _was _a great party. We had music, I did some magic tricks. I even managed to score us some cake. Anyway, what was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to act like an adult."

"Meh," he shrugged. "Where's the fun in that? Anyway, no harm done and all that. Lighten up, Lisbon. Turn that frown, upside down – "

"Shut up, Jane," she muttered, though she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth. A smile that soon turned into a frown when she thought about how on earth he had even managed to get out of bed…

"Jane," she began, "How…I mean, how did you do it? What about your ribs? And your shoulder?"

"Pain is all in the mind, Lisbon," Jane replied, tapping his forehead using his uninjured arm. "And my mind, the doctor has officially declared, is running at full capacity. They x-rayed the old noggin this morning."

"So you think you'll be able to leave soon?" she asked, still annoyed slightly with how much trouble he had already caused in the hospital. The sooner he could leave, the better for everyone involved.

"I've told you already Lisbon," Jane replied. "Since the x-ray, no one's told me anything. I'm not sure they entirely trust me anymore. "

"That's your own fault," Lisbon told him unsympathetically, but Jane simply shrugged.

"Could you ask for me?" Jane begged. "Please, I really don't think I can stay here another minute longer. And I really do want my shoes back."

"Fine, Jane," Lisbon sighed, pulling herself up from the seat. "I'll ask. Though I'm not sure they'll be able to tell me anything since we're not related."

"Sure they will," Jane replied unconcernedly. "You're down as my next of kin."

"I am?" Lisbon asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Jane shrugged. "Who else? They didn't bother to contact you this time because you were already here."

"Oh," Lisbon replied, not sure what else to say. "Well, I guess I'll go and find out then."

"You do that," Jane said quietly. "I'm going to have a nap."

He closed his eyes, and Lisbon took that as her cue to leave. Though he might say that pain was all in the mind, Lisbon could see the strain his injuries were causing him. If he needed a minute alone, she could give him that.

"I'll be back in a bit, Jane," she promised quietly, and though he didn't reply, Lisbon saw a small smile tug at the corner of his lips, and she knew that he had heard.

* * *

Making her way wearily back towards Jane's room over an hour later, Lisbon considered what the doctor had told her. Dr Crawford, Jane's doctor, had made it clear that Jane really shouldn't be moving from the bed at all, let alone leaving the hospital, for a couple of weeks at least. Lisbon however, knew that there was no way in hell Patrick Jane could sit still for even a fraction of that time. When she'd asked what the alternatives were, the doctor had only been able to offer one solution.

It wasn't a solution she was particularly fond of.

"Right, Jane," she began, marching into his room and waking him up in the process. "I spoke to your doctor. He thinks you're an idiot as well by the way."

"Imagine that," Jane responded wryly, rubbing tiredly at his eyes with his free hand.

"But," Lisbon continued. "He says you're okay to leave so long as you have someone to keep an eye on you for the next day or so at least"

"So…" Jane looked at her expectantly, his eyes lighting up.

"Grab your stuff," Lisbon replied, repressing a heavy sigh. "You're coming home with me."

* * *

**A/N-** So what did you all think? In particular, how was the banter between Jane and Lisbon. I tried to make them act how I think they would act on the show, but I also tried to make sure it reflected my own storyline. Hopefully I managed to walk that fine line somewhat successfully? Also, for those of you wondering about Liam, more will be seen of him, I promise!

For now though, thank you so much for all your reviews, favourites and follows, but most of all, thank you for reading!


	13. Home

**********Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Hello again! Just so you know, this chapter is the longest one yet, but it mainly consists of Jane and Lisbon banter/fluff, with a smidgen of angst thrown in. Thank you so much for all the support I've received for this story so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

* * *

**~ Chapter Thirteen ~**

**Home**

* * *

"You doing okay?" Lisbon asked as she dumped Jane's bag next to the couch and made her way back to the front door to shut it.

Home, sweet home.

Jane, for his, part, simply hobbled towards her couch and collapsed onto it with a groan. Sling held protectively against his chest, he still looked a mess, but dressed in his usual three-piece suit, with his precious shoes firmly on his feet, at least he looked a little more like himself.

"Oh, I'm just peachy," he winced, shifting slightly on the couch as he waited for her to join him, apparently struggling to find a position to sit in that didn't hurt.

The ride from the hospital had taken a lot out of him, and she knew he was definitely still struggling with everything that had happened to him in the last few days. She could see it as clear as day, even with his usual winning smile firmly in place. It could have been the drugs he was on, but Jane didn't seem as impenetrable as usual. Honestly, it worried her.

"Yeah, sure you are," Lisbon replied, willing to let it go for now. "You hungry? The doctor said you needed to eat with your medication and you're due for some more."

"Bah, I refuse to take any more of that mind-numbing stuff," Jane dismissed, moving his free arm to cradle his ribs. "Can't think straight with it."

"Jane, don't be an idiot," she began sternly. "You don't _need _to think straight. You just need to rest."

"Fine," Jane replied stubbornly. "I'll rest."

Without even giving her chance to argue with him, Jane dragged his feet up from the floor and began to gingerly move his body on the couch until he was lying down on his side, his injured shoulder resting lightly on top of him, and a cushion resting firmly under his head.

"Nighty night, Lisbon," he muttered, closing his eyes as he tried to shut her out. She growled and crossed her arms in response, but did her best to push down her anger otherwise, knowing it wouldn't do much good. God, this was exactly why she'd had reservations about bringing him home with her. She should've just left him to Cho or one of the others…

"You are not sleeping on the couch," she told him, arms crossed firmly. Jane didn't even twitch.

"Yes, I am," Jane replied without even opening his eyes.

"No, you're not," she shot back.

"Yes, I – "

"Jane, stop it," Lisbon interrupted, clenching her jaw to stop her from snapping at the injured man. Why did he have to make this so difficult?

"Please, Lisbon," Jane whined, turning his head slightly and blinking sleepily up at her. "I'm comfy now, I promise. I'll eat later. I'll even take those damned drugs. Just please don't make me move…"

Lisbon sighed. "Fine, Jane. But don't come crying to me when your bruises start to hurt."

"I won't," he promised, closing his eyes once again.

It didn't seem to take him long to enter the land of dreams, and it struck Lisbon that Jane must've been exhausted, because it usually took him a lot longer to fall asleep, even with the comforting noises of the bullpen around him. She knew, from the brief account Jane had given of the kidnapping, that neither he nor Liam had gotten much rest in the last couple of days, but she had hoped that he would've at least been able to get some sleep at the hospital. She glanced down at him, fast asleep with his mouth open slightly. Apparently not...

She sighed as she looked around her living room, cataloguing the mess that Jane had no doubt already noticed. Well, she considered, at least Jane should be out for a while. Plenty of time for her to get the place ready for even a Jane-level inspection.

Before she began though, she gathered up an old blanket from one of her chairs and placed it over Jane's immobile body, tucking the corners under his side as gently as possible so that she didn't aggravate any of his injuries.

No sense in him being cold, she reasoned, shaking herself as she moved away, but with her focus now on cleaning up, she missed the small smile that crossed Jane's face as he snuggled further into the blanket she had wrapped around his battered frame.

* * *

Jane slept for over two hours, until almost six o'clock that evening. In that time, Lisbon not only managed to tidy up her place to survive even Jane's beady eyed observations, but she was also able to check in with Cho about the case, and even managed to work on some paperwork. She probably should have been in the office really, but she really didn't want to leave Jane alone, even for a minute. Not now that they had finally got him back.

Cho could handle it anyway, she reasoned. She knew he'd make sure they got the bastards who'd done this to Jane and that they rotted away for the rest of their lives. The team would be fine without her. Jane on the other hand...

Lost in her thoughts, and in the mounds of paperwork, it took her a few moments to notice that Jane was starting to wake up, but when she did notice him stir finally, she didn't waste a second, getting up from the kitchen table and making her way over to him, worry still clenching her heart.

"Lisbon?" he asked hoarsely, squinting slightly as his eyes adjusted to the light of the living room. He must have noticed her standing right next to him though, because his eyes rose to meet hers.

"Hey, Jane," she said softly.

"Hospital?" he asked sleepily.

"No," Lisbon replied with a frown. "You're at my place, remember?"

"Ah," he began, seeming to wake up a bit more, though his voice was still a bit croaky with sleep. "I'm on your couch."

Jane pulled himself up until he was sat on the couch, stretching out his legs like a cat. When he tried to move his arm, however, he gasped slightly, apparently having forgotten how badly he was still injured.

"Yeah, against my better judgement," Lisbon muttered, taking a seat next to him as he moved over to give her some room. She turned to him. "You okay?"

"Oh, never better," Jane replied breezily, though she could still make out the lines of pain on his face. He ran his free hand over his face, brushing across his stubble smattered chin.

"You need a shave," Lisbon pointed out, hoping that it would convince him to clean up a bit. Even despite his brief trip to the hospital, Jane still had the look of someone who had just been kidnapped. It worried her.

"I need a shower too, but I'm still not moving," Jane stretched out his legs again as he lay his head against the back of the couch. A smirk crossed his face. "Hey, you could give me a bed bath…"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You're not in a bed, remember? And I am definitely not your nurse." She gave him a serious look, the kind of look that made it clear to him that she was not messing around. "Come on, Jane, stop being lazy."

He shifted slightly. "I'm not. It…hurts. More than I had anticipated actually."

"Who knew that sleeping on a couch _wasn't _good for someone who's just been beaten to within an inch of their life," Lisbon retorted sarcastically, though her eyes still shone with concern. "You want your medication?"

Jane gave her a look of pure disgust but pain crossed his eyes once again, and eventually he nodded.

"Fine," he grouched. "I'll take the damn medication." His frown dropped as hee grinned at her, even despite the pain he was in. "I believe you promised me a slap up meal to accompany it. I can't wait to taste your culinary delights."

Lisbon glared at him. "I'm not that bad."

"Yes, you are," Jane said with great certainty.

"Shut up," she said, pulling herself up from the sofa to go and get his medication from her kitchen table. When she made it back to the couch, Jane had already closed his eyes again. She gave him a nudge, and held her hand out, offering him his bottle of pills. "Here take your medication. I'll start on dinner. Pasta, okay?"

"Mmm," Jane replied sleepily. Having downed two pills, he was already half-asleep again. She watched him close his eyes as the pills began to work though his system. Jane leant his head back against the couch again, a sigh leaving his lips.

"Take a nap, Jane," Lisbon said softly, frowning at how quickly he seemed to losing his energy. "I'll get us some food sorted."

"Mmm," Jane replied again, but before she could say anything else, he was already gone.

* * *

Dinner didn't take her long to cook. She'd long since nailed the art of quick cooking down to a tee, a product of long nights at the office and little or no opportunity to sleep at home. As she worked, she opened a bottle of wine, pouring herself a healthy sized glass. Jane wouldn't be able to drink any, not whilst on his medication, but she'd definitely earned it herself.

"Jane!" she shouted once it was ready, hoping to wake him up as she started to set her small kitchen table. "Food's ready."

"Coming," Jane replied hoarsely from the other room. "No need to shout."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything else, still clouded slightly with concern over her errant consultant. She placed the simple pasta dish on the table just as Jane dragged himself into the kitchen. He was moving stiffly, cradling his sore arm with his free one, but the smile he shot at her did a lot to make some of her worries go away.

"You okay?" she asked as he sat down with a heavy sigh.

"Peachy," he replied, taking a plate, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Smells good."

Lisbon glared at him as she took her own seat. "You don't have to act so surprised."

She took a long swig of her wine, then began to dish out the pasta, pleased that he seemed to be surprised by her ability to cook. What she hoped he didn't know was that her ability was almost exclusively _limited _to pasta…

"Wine?" Jane noted, nodded towards her glass. "Can I have some?"

"One of these?" Lisbon asked, picking up her glass and taking another long sip. "Nope."

Jane's face fell. "Aww, come on Lisbon. Have a heart…"

"You just took a small handful of pills," Lisbon said incredulously, watching cautiously as he took a bite of the pasta. He seemed to like it. "No way, Jane."

"Please," he whined after he had swallowed his mouthful.

"No," Lisbon replied, taking her own bite.

"Just a sip."

"No."

"Grouchy," Jane shot back, tucking back into his food with gusto, though he was slightly limited with only one free arm.

"Child," Lisbon retorted, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

The meal passed in relative silence then, though it wasn't the awkward mess that most of her recent dates had been. Maybe it was because she _wasn't _romantically involved with Jane, but she had rarely felt so at ease around another human being.

Jane cleared his throat once the food had gone, knocking her out of her quiet contemplations. "So, how is Liam? The Doctors wouldn't tell me anything."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she pushed her now empty plate away from her. "Liam? What makes you think I know anything?"

He rolled his eyes as he pushed his empty plate forward too. "Please, Lisbon. I may have taken a few hits to the head recently, but I'm not stupid. You went to see him."

"So did you," Lisbon pointed out.

"Only to cheer him up," Jane replied with a half-shrug. "I didn't get much chance to ask him how he was. So…"

"He's not so good, Jane," Lisbon sighed. A small part of her wanted to lie to him, to spare him the worry, but the larger part of her just wasn't quite willing to do it. "I mean, physically he's okay, and he's alive thanks to you, but he's not doing so great mentally. He's withdrawn, snappy…"

"Told you he needed cheering up," Jane pointed out, a frown tugging at his lips.

"Yeah," Lisbon allowed, a frown clear on her own face. "He'll be fine though, I'm sure."

"Yeah, he will," Jane replied, though he certainly didn't seem convinced. "He's a brave kid. Tough. He reminds me a lot of you actually."

"Me?" Lisbon asked, surprised, getting up as she started to clear the table. Jane made no move to help, but with his injuries, she hadn't expected him to.

"Yeah," Jane replied, his eyes following her with a teasing glint, finally allowing a small smile to overtake his frown. "Except he actually followed my brilliant plan."

Lisbon grinned back. "The plan that involved you getting beaten to within an inch of your life? Yeah, Jane. _Brilliant."_

Jane's smile didn't falter. "I got the phone, didn't I? I managed to get into contact with you, tell you where we were, and then save the day yet again."

"We would have found you anyway," Lisbon argued. "It was only a matter of time. We're not completely useless, you know."

"Oh, I know," Jane replied with a twinkle in his eyes, although his expression soon turned serious. "Thank you, Lisbon. For coming to rescue me, I mean. And for letting me stay here, I suppose. I know I don't say it often, but I do appreciate it."

"No problem, Jane," Lisbon replied, touched by his thanks. She shook herself slightly. "Wanna watch some TV?"

"Sure," Jane replied with shrug. "Just so long as it's not one of those mind numbing reality TV shows. My brain has taken enough pounding recently."

"No arguments here," Lisbon replied, and the two of them moved back into the living room and onto the sofa, dishes left abandoned, and unwashed in the sink.

* * *

They ended up sitting in front of the TV for a couple of hours after dinner, watching the sort of nonsense shows that they both would have usually avoided. To Lisbon's practised eye, Jane seemed to have perked up after finally having a good meal, and he was on top form whilst they were watching the various shows, sometimes making her laugh so hard that she almost snorted wine out of her nose.

She'd rarely had such fun.

Slowly though, the night had come upon them, and it was with a heavy, though relaxed sigh, that Lisbon finally turned off the TV and suggested they both get some sleep. It was with that in mind that started to shift on the sofa, trying to force herself to get up and get ready for bed, when Jane turned to her, all previous mirth gone from his face.

"You really think Liam's going to be okay?" Jane asked seriously. "He's not going to be scarred by it all, is he? I really did try to protect him, you know."

"I know, Jane," Lisbon said softly, settling back onto the sofa. Somehow she knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation. She should have known that Jane was still beating himself up, and she cursed herself for allowing him to pretend otherwise. "You did good."

"Look, I appreciate the sentiment…"

"Shut up, Jane," Lisbon interrupted, though her small smile showed him that she wasn't mad at him. "Liam _will _be okay, and it's all thanks to you. Me and the team…we might've saved you, but you definitely saved Liam."

"He saved himself, really," Jane said with a shrug. "He was much braver than I was."

"Liam is a tough kid," Lisbon agreed softly. "I can't imagine being that brave at his age."

"You?" Jane began incredulously. "Of course you were brave. I imagine you were always tough, what with growing up with three brothers."

"What about you? What were you like when you were his age?" Lisbon asked curiously.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," Lisbon replied with an eye roll. "I can't imagine you as a kid."

"Really?" Jane replied with smirk, completely dodging the question. "Even though you're constantly calling me childish?"

The few glasses of wine had made her bolder, and it seemed that the drugs had made it harder for Jane to hide behind his mask the way he usually would. She had always wondered about her consultant's past, and his few mysterious comments on the subject had just made her more and more curious over the years.

Lisbon smirked back. "Yes, even despite that. Come on, were you always like you are now?"

"Actually, I was quite a serious child," Jane replied seriously.

"Yeah, come on," Lisbon scoffed. "Like I'd believe that."

"Fine," Jane sniffed dramatically, though she saw through the act much more easily than usual. Something was bothering him. "Don't believe me, but I assure you, it is one hundred percent the truth."

Lisbon's smirk faltered when she saw his sincerity. "You really were serious?"

"Serious as a funeral director," Jane replied with a small smile.

"It can't have been easy," Lisbon allowed quietly, thinking about it answer. "You know, growing up in a carnival."

"The carnie life isn't as much fun as you might imagine," Jane admitted softly, his mind seeming to be elsewhere. "I spent most of my childhood bored and poor."

"You don't talk about it much," Lisbon prompted quietly.

"Not much to talk about," Jane replied with a shrug.

"Still, it must have had its good points," Lisbon began. "It's definitely an interesting way to grow up."

"I wouldn't use the word interesting," Jane told her quietly. "More like…challenging. We were very poor. And I didn't get to go to school, so I didn't meet many kids my own age. I certainly didn't have many friends."

"Oh," Lisbon said lamely, not sure what she should say. It was rare for Jane to offer anything of his past, especially something that clearly still affected him. "What did you do then? To pass the time, I mean."

"I earned my keep," Jane said with a bitter smile.

"When you were a kid?" asked Lisbon, surprised. "I thought that had all started when you were at least a teenager."

"Oh, no," Jane replied. "I was scamming people before I could even talk properly. Dear old daddy saw to that."

"Oh," Lisbon replied.

"Don't worry, Lisbon," Jane replied, eyes rising to meet hers. "I'm fine, really. It was all a long time ago."

"I know," Lisbon replied, but she didn't believe him for a second. She knew a little bit about tough childhoods herself, and she knew they were always a part of you, no matter how hard you tried to get over them.

"Look," Jane said softly. "Why don't you get some rest? I'm fine here, I promise."

"I'm glad you're okay, Jane," Lisbon said softly, letting him drop the difficult conversation. If he was done talking, she wasn't about to force him. She pulled herself up from the couch, stretching her stiff muscles sleepily.

"Me too," Jane replied, reaching over to the table to pick up the pill bottle. Using only one hand, Jane managed to unscrew the lid and knock out a couple of pills into his palm.

Lisbon frowned. "Should you really be taking more of those?"

"Still hurts," Jane replied, dry-swallowing the two pills. "I won't be able to sleep without them anyway. They should knock me out long enough for me to get a couple of hours rest."

The reminder of his insomnia caused pity to rise up in her but she squashed it down, knowing that it would do him absolutely no good. Instead she simply smiled at him.

"Good night, Jane," she said softly, moving towards her stairs. "If you need me, I'm only upstairs. I'll come and check on you in a few hours, okay?"

"Okay," Jane agreed, shifting himself with some difficultly until he was lying down on the couch again. She thought about forcing him to take her bed, but she knew it would be a losing argument. As stubborn as she was, no one was more stubborn than Jane.

"And no more pills," she told him over her shoulder as she began to make her way up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Yes, boss," came his sleepy reply, and she allowed herself a small smile.

Yeah, she reassured herself, heart lightening slightly at the familiar banter. She knew it would take a little time, but he would be fine.

He would be alright.

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**A/N - **So, what did you think? I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it too. Lisbon and Jane are just so much fun to write! Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!


	14. Time Out

**Disclaimer - **The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

**A/N - **Another chapter is finally here! This one was a bit tricky to write, but I got there in the end, and I think it turned out okay? Thank you for all your encouraging reviews - they really kept me going, and it means a lot that people seem to like what I'm doing. Hopefully you like this too!

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**~ Chapter Fourteen ~**

**Time Out**

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Early the next morning, Lisbon woke slowly, a bright light darting through her eyelids and dragging her unwillingly from deep unconsciousness.

She groaned, burying her head further into her pillow as she tried to ignore the morning light. It wouldn't go away though, no matter how deeply she burrowed and no matter how tightly she closed her eyes, and it was with a heavy sigh that she finally dragged open her eyelids, blinking rapidly as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the morning light that was creeping through her thin curtains.

Morning...?

And then, without warning, her brain snapped into awareness, and everything came back.

Jane, the kidnapping, his recovery in hospital. Jane was here, she realised, in her house. He'd slept on her couch….

Dammit, she cursed to herself as anther realisation hit her brain. She was supposed to check up on him every few hours, just to make sure that he hadn't slipped into a coma during his sleep. The doctor had been very clear about that, but if it was already morning…

Quickly, Lisbon checked her bedside alarm clock, only to find that it was already seven o'clock in the morning. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

She felt herself wake up more quickly at the thought, and with out another thought, she pulled herself up on the bed and from under her warm covers with barely a shiver, her mind stuck on her consultant, and her own annoyance at not doing a good job looking after him.

Wait…

Why hadn't her alarm gone off? She'd set it to go off. She'd _definitely_ set it to go off after two hours, so that she could check that Jane was okay, just like the doctor had ordered. But as she glanced back down at her alarm clock, it was clear that either the alarm had been turned off _after _she'd set it, or she'd never set it in the first place.

Except she definitely remembered setting it…

Shaking her head slightly to get rid of the last remnants of sleep from her mind, Lisbon made her way over to the door, shivering slightly as she stood on tired feet. Even though she was well overdue, it was time to check on Jane.

Lisbon ran a hand over her face, roughly trying to wake herself up more as she pulled open the door and entered the short corridor. In the last few days, she'd probably had about as much sleep as Jane – likely even less, since he'd been unconscious for large parts of it – so in truth she was beyond exhausted, but since she had been the one to offer to take him home, she had to be the one to check up on him.

"Dammit," she groaned again, but she dutifully began to make her way downstairs to where Jane was fast asleep on the couch.

Only he wasn't there. The couch was empty.

Heart thudding in her chest, though she did try to push past the panic long enough to think clearly, Lisbon stalked into the living room, as if moving closer to the couch might suddenly make Jane appear from nowhere.

It didn't work. Jane was still gone.

"Jane?" she called, hoping he was in the kitchen. But no, that room was empty as well. Frantically she moved through her house as if the devil was chasing her, but there was no sign, no whisper that he was within the same walls that surrounded her.

She couldn't believe he had gone again. She'd only just got him back, and now he was gone….

Fear clenched at her heart. Red John, her brain told her numbly, working past the panic into some semblance of thought. She made her way back to the couch, this time not looking for Jane, but instead searching for any sign of a struggle, any sign that he had been taken. Finding none, she collapsed onto it, resting her weary head in her slightly shaking hands.

There was nothing. In fact, the only sign that Jane had ever been there at all was the blanket that she had wrapped around his body yesterday, now lying listless on her cold floor in front of her.

She didn't know how long she sat there, staring down at that old blanket. It was if she was in a trance, as if the blanket's presence was an actual physical link to Jane. She knew she should probably call it in; the cop in her was screaming for her to find her phone, to ring the team and get them round as soon as possible, before the trail went cold again. Before they lost him for good.

She couldn't though. It was as if, by staring down at the stupid blanket, she was putting off the inevitable panic, the inevitable pain of losing him again…

She couldn't lose him again...

The creak of the front door handle snapped her out of her thoughts, her hand immediately going to her side, even despite the fact that she was still wearing her pyjamas and so definitely wasn't carrying her gun. Quickly, before the door could even open fully, Lisbon dashed to the kitchen and grabbed one of her large knifes. There no way she was going down without a fight.

Red John could go to hell...

Finally, the front door swung open, and Lisbon held the knife in front of her as she moved back to her front room, waiting with baited breath….

She released it sharply. It was Jane.

_Jane._

And, Lisbon realised numbly, he did not look okay.

Jane staggered through the door, almost holding onto it to keep himself upright. Lisbon allowed the knife to drop to her side as she scanned his body for injuries. He was still dressed in the suit he had been wearing out of the hospital, and it seemed undamaged…

In fact, the only injuries she could see on him were the one's he'd had yesterday. Realisation hit again, and this time, Lisbon considered raising the knife again. God, he hadn't been kidnapped; he'd left her of his own free will.

"Ah, Lisbon," Jane said casually, finally noticing her standing by the kitchen, though his charming smile was tinged with fatigue. "I see you're awake."

"Yes, I'm awake," she hissed, gripping the knife tightly. "Dammit Jane, where the hell have you been?"

"For a walk," Jane shrugged, collapsing onto the couch with a sigh. Lisbon felt her anger growing, almost overpowering any concern she might have had about her consultant's terrible condition.

Lisbon dropped the knife on a nearby table and crossed her arms angrily. "A walk? At the crack of dawn?"

"I often go for walks at night," Jane replied, leaning his head back against the couch as he closed his eyes. "It's good for the soul."

"Sheep dip!"

"Lisbon…"

"Shut up, Jane," Lisbon interrupted angrily. "Dammit, I thought Red John had kidnapped you!"

Jane's eyes flew open, his mouth falling open slightly. It would have been a comical sight had Lisbon not been literally shaking with barely repressed fury.

"Red John?" Jane asked. He actually had the gall to smirk at the thought, and Lisbon considered picking up the knife again, just to wipe that stupid smile off his face. "You thought _Red John _had kidnapped me? What on earth gave you that idea?"

"You were gone, you idiot!" Lisbon growled. "I wake up - at seven o'clock, which is hours after I'd set my alarm to go off by the way, and I _know _that somehow _that's _your fault too- and of course, you're nowhere to be seen…"

The smile fell from Jane's face, but Lisbon remained unmoved. He frowned at her. "Well I would have left you a note, but how was I to know you'd overreact this badly?"

"Overreact?" Lisbon asked incredulously. "Dammit Jane, Red John said he'd up his game! He warned you! Why are you determined not to take that seriously?"

"Oh, I am, I assure you," Jane replied. "But I fail to see what that has to do with anything – "

"Oh, you fail to see, do you?"

"Yes," Jane nodded seriously. "I fail to see why my going for a walk has anything to do with Red John."

"It has everything to do with it!" Lisbon ground out. "You were beaten up Jane! You were in _hospital_! You are nowhere near your best – "

"I'm fine, Lisbon," Jane interrupted, rolling his eyes. "And I assure you, if Red John wanted to kidnap me, even at my best, I'm sure I could do nothing to stop him."

"Jane – "

"Oh, stop fretting Lisbon," Jane waved her off. "I'm fine, and I'm here. More importantly, Red John isn't here. And I needed to leave the house for a bit. Besides, if I'm going to be staying here for a couple of days, I'll need a few changes of clothes."

For the first time since he'd walked back through the door, Lisbon noticed the bag Jane had dropped by the couch.

"You went to the motel? That's miles away!" Lisbon asked incredulously.

Jane rolled his eyes. "It's not that far."

"You're an idiot, Jane," Lisbon said seriously. She should've just left him in the hospital...

"So you keep telling me," Jane replied, unconcerned. He grimaced as he shifted on the couch, his free arm moving protectively to cradle his ribs. Lisbon felt some of her anger melt away in the face of his pain, though she made herself promise not to let Jane off _too _easily.

"Pills?" Lisbon asked, concern crossing her features.

"Yes, please," Jane replied tiredly.

With a deep sigh, Lisbon went over to pick up his pills from the table, before making her way back towards Jane with deliberate slowness. This time though, instead of standing over him, Lisbon sat right beside him on the couch, holding out her hand silently and offering him the pain medication.

"I'm sorry that I scared you, Lisbon," Jane said quietly, as he took the pills gratefully.

"You didn't," Lisbon replied stubbornly, turning away from him slightly as if that would protect the truth from his all-knowing gaze.

Jane rolled his eyes, as she'd known he would. "Of course I scared you. You thought I'd been kidnapped again. I'd be offended if you _weren't _scared."

"I wasn't," Lisbon replied, somewhat childishly.

"Well then, I'm well and truly offended." Jane pouted, but Lisbon remained unmoved. Truth be told, she was still furious at the man. "My own nurse, not even scared when she thinks I've been kidnapped..."

"I'm not your nurse, Jane," Lisbon told him angrily.

Jane fell silent in the face of her growing fury, perhaps sensibly deciding to let her cool off before he spoke again. Lisbon, for her part, took a couple of deep breaths, trying to let the tension of the morning slip out of her stressed body.

After a few long minutes, she finally felt calm again, and she turned back to Jane, a question on her lips. Jane, it seemed, was sat patiently next to her, waiting for her to be the one to break the silence for once.

"Why didn't you wake me before you left?" Lisbon asked quietly.

"You wouldn't have let me go," Jane replied simply. "And I didn't want to wake you up. You looked tired."

"Well, did you really _have_ to go?" Lisbon asked. "Couldn't you have at least waited until daylight?"

"No," Jane answered. At her disbelieving look, Jane moved to explain, and for once, he looked completely serious. "I couldn't sleep. Even with the drugs…I couldn't seem to drop off. Walking around usually helps."

"Do you do it a lot?" Lisbon asked quietly.

Jane shrugged. "Sometimes."

Lisbon fell quiet then, lost in her thoughts. Sometimes, with all Jane's smiles and jokes and utter childish ridiculousness, Lisbon forgot how _damaged _Jane was.

In fact, it brought home the reality of the situation in a way that nothing else had so far. Jane might seem fine, he might even recover from the trauma of being kidnapped, but he would _never _be okay…

"I really am sorry I scared you," Jane replied seriously, his eyes locking onto hers.

"You should be," Lisbon replied, though the anger had left her voice now, tiredness replacing it.

"I am," Jane assured her, and despite herself, Lisbon allowed the rest of her anger to melt away.

"Don't do it again, Jane," she replied seriously, turning on the couch so that she was sure he was taking in her words. "Do you have any idea how worried I was when I came downstairs and you weren't there?" Jane moved to speak but she interrupted before he could. "I'm responsible for you. I brought you back here, against your Doctor's recommendation, because it was what _you _wanted. And all I ever wanted, all I ever asked for, was for you to act like a grown-up for once in your life."

"I'm sorry," Jane repeated, once it was clear that Lisbon everything she had wanted to say. He looked chagrined, and sincere, and a little regretful, and Lisbon thought that maybe once, just once, her message might be getting through to him.

"I know, Jane," she replied with a sigh.

Because despite the fact that he had lied to her before, and despite the fact that he would lie to her again in an instant, she couldn't help but believe him.

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**A/N - **So how was it? I tried to balance out the angst and fluff so that there were even parts of both, but I think I overdid it a little on the angsty-ness, and didn't add enough of the fluff. I can't help it though- it sounds terrible, but I really do love sad, hurt, suffering Jane. I hope you still liked it anyway, and if you really do want to see more fluff, please hold on until the next chapter...there will be a whole host of fluffy scenes then if all goes to plan, including the long-awaited return of Liam! For now though, thanks for reading!


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